


Finding Heaven

by Zanderis



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Anal Fingering, Angst, Barebacking, Blood and Violence, Canon Divergent, Depression, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Smut, Mutual Pining, Oral Sex, Post-Episode: s12e22 Who We Are, Romance, Rough Sex, Slow Burn, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Table Sex, Torture, Vaginal Sex, Wing Kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2019-02-14 04:36:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 32,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13000008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zanderis/pseuds/Zanderis
Summary: Sam & Dean go to an old friend of Bobby’s for help on a case and find that she's not quite what they were expecting. This story occurs months after the events of 12x22 Who We Are. It's also after Cas has already come back from the dead, so Dean is his old self, and not in the depressed state he was in at the beginning of season 13.Banner made byAnnie_Eliza





	1. Just Another Case

**Author's Note:**

> This work was beta'd by the lovely [tfw_cas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tfw_cas) :)
> 
> I tried to write this story as close to the Supernatural universe as possible. I'm pretty new to writing fan fiction, so constructive criticism is more than welcome. I will try my best to reply to everyone. I have a lot of different fanfics floating around in my head, so if this goes well, I may post more.  
> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Oh and of course, I don’t own Supernatural or its characters.

“Are you sure about this?” Dean asks, skeptically looking at the old two-story cabin they just pulled up to.

“These are the coordinates Bobby had in his journal,” Sam reminds him as they approach the door and knock.

“Yeah, I got that, but he wrote those down -what- 20 years ago? This hunter probably moved or died by now.”

“I know, but it's all we got to go on.”

As Dean is about to continue arguing, the door opens. The boys turn to see a petite brunette Asian woman in her 20s wearing combat boots, skinny jeans, and a black t-shirt.

“Can I help you?” The woman asks.

“Hi, I’m Sam Winchester. This is my brother Dean. Sorry to bother you, but we're looking for a Jade Ambrose. She worked with a friend of ours, and we were told she lives around here.”

She whispers to herself, “Ambrose,” sighs and explains, “You’re looking for my mother. She… she died several years ago. Please come in.” As she ushers them into her home, she shakes their hands and continues, “My name’s Roxy. My mother was a hunter, which I’m assuming you guys are too.”

Sam replies, “Yeah, we are. Our friend Bobby passed away a few years ago too, and he left us his journals. In one of them, he mentioned that we should get help from your mother if we ever come across a monster that eats the skin off of its victims. We know where to find it, just not how to kill it.”

“She mentioned that case to me before. Have a seat, and I’ll see if I can find what you need.”

She gestures towards the couch in her living room as she walks up the staircase to her room. While the boys wait for her, they casually look around the first floor, and all they see is some very simple furniture and a fireplace that looks like it hasn’t been used in years. After a few minutes, Roxy comes back with an old leather-bound book and a sheathed scimitar.

“Ok, according to my mother’s journal, she and Bobby didn’t know what the thing was, but she used this to decapitate it and then burned the body. It should do the trick again,” she says while handing them the weapon.

Dean removes the sheath, sees there are Enochian symbols engraved into the blade, and asks, “Where did she get this?”

“She had someone make it for her. It’s designed to kill almost any corporeal being.”

“Awesome,” says Dean with his little signature smirk. Rolling his eyes at his brother, Sam says to Roxy, “Thanks a lot for your help. We'll be sure to bring this back when we're done.”

As they're walking out of the cabin, Sam turns back and tells her, “I'm sorry about your mother.”

“Thank you, and I'm sorry to hear about Bobby. He was a good man.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a couple of hours of driving, the Winchesters get to the abandoned warehouse in which the target has been feeding on people. With Dean wielding the scimitar and Sam holding a machete, they enter the building to start their sweep. The boys quickly find a young man tied to a gurney with patches of skin bitten off his arms. While removing the ropes, they're attacked from behind and knocked unconscious.

A few minutes later, another car pulls up to the warehouse and Roxy steps out of it with a machete in hand. She sneaks around the warehouse and finds the boys tied to gurneys, along with the other victim. She stays hidden behind the door until the monster returns to the room. As it bares its jagged teeth to feed on the young man, Roxy swiftly chops its head off. She removes the restraints from the boys and they gradually regain consciousness.

Sam and Dean bandage the young man’s arms and help him get on his feet. As the boys slowly walk him out of the room, Roxy puts the corpse and its head on one of the gurneys. When she knows the others are out of earshot, she places one hand on its chest, mumbles an incantation to herself, and the body combusts.

A few minutes later, she walks out of the warehouse, watching Dean help the injured man into the Impala. As she makes her way to her car, Sam approaches her.

“Thanks for your help in there. How did you know where to find us?”

“Your car isn't exactly discreet, you know. I followed it to make sure you guys wouldn’t get yourselves killed, which you almost did.”

Sam breathes out a laugh, rubs the back of his neck and replies, “Yeah, that's a pretty bad habit of ours. Anyway, we really appreciate you saving our asses in there. If you ever need anything, give us a call, alright?”

“Will do. You boys take care of yourselves, got it?”

“Yes, ma'am,” he says, smiling softly.

They each turn to their own vehicles and get in. The boys drive the wounded man to the nearest hospital, and Roxy heads home to her little cabin in the woods. After checking the man into the emergency room, the boys get back into the Impala and notice the scimitar in the back seat. They head to her house to return the borrowed weapon.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the Winchesters get closer to their destination, Dean spots a thick pillar of smoke coming from the forest. Worried, he floors it and speeds down the road to get to Roxy, hoping it is not her home that's burning. With horrified looks on their faces, they find her cabin engulfed in flames. Heartbroken at the loss of another good hunter, Sam steps out to pay respects. Dean notices a black SUV next to Roxy’s car. When he sees three armed men in suits come from behind the house, he pulls his handgun and confronts them.

Enraged, he aims at one of the men and demands, “Who the hell are you?!”

Suddenly the burning cabin door explodes off its hinges and lands in front of them. They all keep their weapons pointed at each other, but keep their eyes fixed on the house. When a dark figure slowly makes its way through the flames, all of them turn to aim their firearms at it. As it comes closer to the doorway, they see it's a completely charred body coming towards them.

The three men and the Winchesters all open fire on the being. They each empty their clips into it, but their shots barely faze it. Dean grabs Roxy’s scimitar from the Impala and prepares for the walking corpse to attack. They stand in awe as it walks out of the building. Its eyes and veins glow a golden yellow, and patches of flesh begin to rapidly grow back all over its body. Even the fragments of clothing it's wearing are restored, as if healed along with the skin.

Sam and Dean lower their guard a bit as they recognize the being’s combat boots, its form-fitting blue jeans, and its black t-shirt under a dark brown leather jacket.

“Roxy?” Sam says as the skin and hair on her face reform.

Fully healed, she turns her golden malevolent eyes to him and asks, “Who did this to my home?”

Wide-eyed, he merely gulps and gestures towards the three men in suits. She nods in acknowledgment, then focuses all of her attention and fury towards the men in question, walking by Dean as if he's not even there.

The men back away slowly as she comes near. One says with a shaky British accent, “We were merely following orders. Please don't-”

She flicks her wrist and sends the man flying into the rear of the SUV hard enough to completely obliterate his body on impact. The two still alive jump at the sound of their comrade exploding into a thousand pieces and a pool of blood. One of them turns and vomits at the sight of what's left of the man.

The other holds his hands up in a non threatening manner and explains, “We are Men of Letters. We were sent to find and exterminate every hunter in this country. We followed the Winchesters here, saw the weapons in your car and thought you were just another hunter. You have our sincerest apologies and assurance that this will not happen again.”

She squints at him, and after a moment of silence, her eyes fade back to their natural brown. “It better not.”

The men look at each other relieved, then cautiously get into their vehicle. When the doors shut, Roxy snaps her fingers and the inside of the SUV bursts into flames. With an exhausted look on her face, she watches the raging bonfire that was her home, shuts her eyes and passes out.


	2. Who Can You Trust?

Roxy slowly wakes and opens her eyes. She tries to lift her hands to rub her face, but feels that there are handcuffs on her wrists. Inspecting the cuffs, she sees they have symbols for binding demons, angels and some other creatures as well. She lets her hands fall in frustration and looks around the room.

Lying on a soft bed in a small motel room, she turns her head to see Dean resting on a couch. On the other bed, Sam is sitting against the headrest and doing research on his laptop.

“So,” she says while sitting up, drawing the attention of the brothers,  
“How long was I out?”

“About 6 hours,” replies Sam as he puts his laptop aside.

“Why did you bring me here?”

“Didn't think it'd be a good idea to leave you lying there for cops to find. You might liquefy them too,” retorts the older Winchester, standing with his handgun aimed at Roxy.

“Dean-” Sam tries to interrupt.

“What are you?”

She looks down at the floor and sighs. Rubbing her forehead, she says, “If I answer you, will you keep it to yourself? I don't want a bunch of hunters trying to kill me after this.”

“Depends on if you give us a reason to kill you or not.”

Growing impatient, she stands and challenges Dean. “Ok, let me make something perfectly clear: you have no leverage here,” she declares, melting the cuffs on her wrists. “If I was a monster, I would have left you to die in that warehouse.”

Sam stands in between them and intervenes, “Can everyone just calm down? Dean, put that away; you know it won't do anything. Roxy, we appreciate that you saved our lives, but you did kill three people with powers we didn't even know you had. We just want to make sure letting you go won't bite us in the ass later.”

At that, Dean begrudgingly tucks his gun into the back of his pants, and Roxy returns to sitting on the edge of her bed.

“Thank you.” Sam lets out a breath of relief, then sits back down and asks, “Now, who are you really?”

“Jade.”

“Why did you tell us you were your own daughter?”

“When you said ‘Ambrose,’ I knew Bobby had sent you. He's the one that suggested I use that last name. I haven't seen him in over two decades so I figured you'd be expecting Jade to be someone older.”

With a furrowed brow, he inquires, “Why ‘Ambrose’?”

“It's the modern version of ‘Ambrosios,’ which is Greek for-”

“Immortal,” Sam says in unison with her as she finishes her sentence.

She lightly smirks and nods, saying, “Exactly. He thought it'd be fitting.”

“Wait, Bobby knew what you were and he didn't mention anything about it in his journal?” Dean says.

“He never knew exactly what I was. He saw me heal myself and figured out about as much as you have now. I requested he not share this information, and he agreed because I saved his life. Will you agree to the same?”

The brothers look to each other for a moment, then nod in response. “So what are you exactly?” the younger one asks.

“I'm a sort of nephilim. I was human once, but an angel named Rogziel wove her grace into my soul.”

“Why would she do that?”

“Long story short, she wanted to quit her job and live the rest of her life as a human. Giving me her grace allowed her to do that.” With a heavy expression on her face, she continues, “I accepted this power so I could protect my family. I didn't know I'd end up outliving them all anyway.”

After a moment of somber silence, Sam asks with sympathetic eyes, “How long have you lived like this?”

“Several thousand years or so. I stopped keeping track, honestly.” Jade clears her throat and changes the subject, “Anyway, I have one question for you: what are the odds that the Men of Letters will try to kill me again?”

“Pretty high, unfortunately. You blew up three of their people right next to your house, so you're definitely on their hit list now,” Dean informs her. “Do you have anywhere to stay?” he asks.

“I kept to myself in that cabin for over a century. I didn't have a reason to look for anywhere else.”

“You could stay with us if you want,” suggests Sam.

“Sam, can I talk to you for a minute?” Dean says, pulling his brother aside. “Are you out of your mind?!”

Whispering, he replies, “She's in this mess because of us, Dean. She saved our asses and they burned her alive for it. We can at least let her stay in the bunker for a while. Besides, if she was going to kill us, she would've done it by now.”

Dean sighs in defeat, “Ok fine, but you're in charge of babysitting and finding a way to kill her in case she turns on us.”

The three of them check out of the motel and jump into the Impala. The boys drive Jade to pick up her car, then have her follow them to the bunker. They show her where to park in the garage, then Sam gives her a tour of the place, ending at the guestroom she'll be using.

“Here's where you'll be staying, and some extra clothes you can use for pj’s til we can stop by a store tomorrow,” he says, handing her a robe, a plaid shirt, and a pair of sweatpants. “Sorry they're pretty large. Hopefully they're comfortable for you at least.”

With a soft grin on her face, she replies, “Don't worry, these’ll work. Thank you.”

“Great. Have a good night.”

“You too.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Dean groggily walks into the kitchen and finds Sam skimming through an old book at the table. He pours himself a cup of coffee and joins his brother.

“Find anything on her?”

“Sort of… I've found some lore on Rogziel, but it doesn't say anything about if or how she can die.”

“Well, what does it say?”

Sliding the book to Dean, Sam says, “So according to this, Rogziel is the angel of punishment and her name literally means ‘the wrath of God.’ She is one of two angels whose graces are directly connected to God himself. She represents His destructive side, while her counterpart, Remiel, represents His merciful side.”

“So we have someone almost as powerful as Chuck staying in our guestroom? Fantastic… Does it say anything else?” Dean asks.

Sam reads through more of the text and replies, “It says here that they suspected her of purging a diseased village ages ago, but they didn't know for sure.”

“Glad to see you boys don't blindly trust people you just met,” says Jade, leaning on the doorframe of the kitchen. She walks in wearing the large borrowed flannel shirt as a dress with a belt around her waist. She's so petite compared to the Winchesters that the shirt is almost down to her knees.

“Is what they wrote about you true? Did you really wipe out an entire village?” Dean asks accusatorily, watching her walk by and open the refrigerator door.

She freezes with a pained look on her face. She shuts her eyes as the memories echo in her mind: the villagers’ faces, their tears, their screams. She slowly closes the fridge with a trembling grip on the handle, then responds with her back still to the boys, “I understand you want to know if you can trust me, but I will not discuss every detail of my life with you… especially not this.”

Jade heads for the door, but Dean gets out of his seat and stands in her way, saying, “Come on, you gotta give us a little more to go on than that.”

“All you need to know is that I tried to cure their illness and I failed them,” she laments while brushing past him and storming out of the kitchen.

She rushes back into her room and slams the door shut. Resting her back against the door, she takes a few minutes to calm herself. When her breathing and heartbeat become steady, she changes into her clothes from the night before, so she can go shopping to replace some of what she lost in the fire.

As she walks through the library on her way to the garage, Castiel enters the bunker. When they see each other in the war room, Cas immediately draws his angel blade and Jade flashes golden yellow in her eyes.


	3. Failing Our Charges

“What have you done to them?” Cas demands, brandishing his blade while stalking towards Jade.

“What are you talking about?” she asks, backing away from him.

He lunges at her shouting, “What did you do to Sam and Dean?!”

She sidesteps while pushing his arm aside so that his blade barely misses her, then knees him in his gut. He finds his balance and elbows her in the eye. He tries to stab her, but she grabs his hand, pries the weapon out of his grip, and kicks him in the chest, putting some space between them. As she raises the blade to attack, Dean comes in from behind and decapitates her with the Enochian scimitar, making her body and her head fall to the floor.

“Dean!” Relieved to see his best friend alive and well, Cas pulls him into a heartfelt embrace.

“Hey, Cas, you ok?”

As they leave each other's arms, Cas replies, “Yes, I'm fine. I got your message about Rogziel. I tried to call you and Sam, but you didn't answer. I thought she might have done something to you.”

Dean opens his mouth to speak, but stops himself when he notices Jade’s body moving. Wide-eyed, he clutches the scimitar tighter and watches as the body gradually stands up.

“Sam?!” he yells down the hall towards his brother’s room.

As Sam comes running from his room, the body picks up its own head. Now standing in the doorway of the war room, he joins Dean gawking as Jade’s body places her head back where it belongs. The second the two parts connect, her neck quickly heals and the blood from the injury burns off of her body. Dean moves to attack her again, but Jade holds her hand up and immobilizes him telekinetically, then she does the same with Sam and Cas.

“Knew you’d turn on us,” growls the older Winchester furiously.

“Honey, your little angel boy tried to stab me as soon as he walked in here! What the Hell was I supposed to do? Just stand here and take it?!”

With a mildly guilty expression on his face, Cas says to the boys, “It’s true. I thought she had hurt or killed you both, so I attacked her first.”

“Thank you. Now that that’s all cleared up, can we please be a little more civil around here!” she says frustratedly, letting her hand drop, allowing the brothers and their angel to move again. Exhausted, she sighs and tells them, “You know, I'm not too fond of angels, particularly ones who try to kill me. I'd rather go back to my ash-pile-of-a-cabin than stay here.”

Dean says, “I know that angels can be dicks...” then looks at his angel from the corner of his eye and adds, “ _some_ can be dicks, but Cas is as good as they can get.”

“That really doesn't mean anything to me. I learned a long time ago not to put much faith in angels.”

“What'd they do to you that was so bad?” Sam asks.

With a dark look in her eyes, she stares daggers into Cas, then turns her attention to the boys.

“The village you asked me about earlier… The angels let them die. When I met the villagers over a thousand years ago, they had contracted a disease from their water supply. The town doctor tried everything to cure them, but nothing worked. I went to every well in the area and purged its water of the poison, but I was already too late. One-by-one, the villagers started to die agonizingly slow. I couldn't heal them, so I prayed to every single angel, but no one answered.”

Dean asks, “Why couldn't you just heal them yourself?”

“Rogziel’s grace is pure destruction; the only one it heals is its host. All I could do was kill the infection in their bodies, which only added to their pain,” she explains as her voice cracks on the last word.

Glaring directly into Cas’ bright blue eyes, Jade continues, “I prayed every time I treated someone, hoping you would come down and cure them all. I even placed sigils on their wrists to make sure each and every one of you would hear their screams.”

With tears forming in her eyes and her voice starting to break, she mourned, “It took most of them _days_ to die. Only two of them survived, if you could call it that. Their minds were so shattered from the pain they couldn't even recognize their own families… Even after all of that, none of you showed up.”

With concerned expressions, the Winchesters watch Cas for his reaction, hoping he'll contradict her story. To their surprise, he looks sincerely remorseful and says, “I still remember their cries… I am truly sorry we did not come to their aid.”

Jade rubs her face and dries her eyes to keep from breaking down, then starts to walk towards the exit.

“Where’re you going?” Dean asks her firmly.

“Home.”


	4. Her Name is Jade Ambrose

Weeks pass since the Winchesters have heard from or about Jade. They go on a few hunts involving strange deaths, but they find the victims were killed by a witch and a couple of ghosts, not Jade. Sitting across from each other in the bunker library, Sam and Dean search for another case on their laptops.

Sam furrows his brow as he reads, and says, “Uh, Dean?... I think I found Jade.”

“What?” says Dean as he moves to Sam’s side of the table.

“Four days ago, a Jane Doe was found unconscious in the parking lot of a bar in Bismarck, ND. She is a 5’1” Asian woman with black hair, brown eyes, and weighs about 120 pounds, just like Jade. Doctors say there's no medical reason for her to be in a coma, but she has not woken up since they found her.”

“How are you so sure that it's Jade?”

“A witness said that she was jumped by a mugger, fought him off, then passed out without any serious injuries.”

“Like she did after she fought the Brits. Ok, let's go see if it really is Jade in the hospital, then we'll go talk to the witness.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Sam says affirmatively while packing up his laptop and leaving the table.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After several hours of driving, the Winchesters arrive at St. Alexius Hospital. They walk up to the receptionist wearing black suits and showing her their fake FBI badges.

“Hi, we're Agents Rose and Hudson. We're here to see the Jane Doe that was brought in a few days ago. She might be a witness of ours who went missing last week,” Sam explains to her.

“I see. Let me page her doctor for you.”

The receptionist holds the multi-line phone up to her ear, presses a few buttons, then relays the boys’ story to the person on the other end of the call. About ten minutes later, the brothers are greeted by a doctor holding a clipboard.

“Good afternoon, I'm Doctor Rachel Magnus. You must be Agents Rose and Hudson,” she says, shaking their hands.

“Yes, ma'am. If we could, we'd like to see your Jane Doe in person, so we can confirm if she is our missing witness or not,” requests Dean.

“Of course. Please, follow me.”

Doctor Magnus has them sign the visitors log, then leads them to Jane Doe’s room. When they enter, they see Jade lying in bed wearing a hospital gown with a blanket over her and vital sign monitors hooked up to her arm. Sam gets closer to her bedside. While blocking the doctor’s view, he cuts a small lock of her jet black hair and hides it in his jacket.

He goes back to the doorway, and informs Doctor Magnus, “She is the one we're looking for. Her name is Jade Ambrose. What can you tell us about her condition?”

“The sheriff brought her in four days ago. She was unconscious when they found her and she has not regained consciousness since then. She doesn't have any injuries, and nothing unusual showed up in her blood work. Every test we've run shows she is completely healthy; she just isn't waking up for some reason.”

“Could you please give us a call if her condition changes?” asks Sam, handing her a fake business card.

“Not a problem. I'll be sure to keep you updated.”

“Thank you.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sam and Dean leave the hospital and head to Pub 21, the bar where the witness works.

They walk up to the bartender and Dean asks, “Hi, is Kate Pierce working today?”

“That's me. Who's asking?”

Showing her their fake badges, he replies, “We’re Agents Rose and Hudson. We'd like to talk to you about what happened in the parking lot a few days ago.”

“Oh… give me a minute,” she says as she walks off to the other end of the bar. She tells her coworker to cover for her while she goes on her her break, then she sits at a table with Sam and Dean.

“Alright, what do you need to know? I've already talked to the cops a number of times about this.”

Sam replies, “We know, but we just have a few more questions for you, if that's alright.”

“Ok.”

Dean asks, “Did you notice anything strange when Jane Doe got jumped?”

“I told the cops what I saw and they thought I was crazy. They even used a breathalyzer on me to make sure I wasn't wasted.”

Sam says, “Trust me, you can tell us almost anything and you won't make us think you're crazy. We're just trying to figure out what happened to this Jane Doe.”

Kate looks around to see if anyone is listening, then tells them, “I don't think she's human, same for the guy that jumped her.”

“What makes you say that?” asks Dean.

“Well, at first they fought each other like normal: punching and kicking and whatnot. Then, the guy tried to come at me and she snapped his neck to stop him. When she checked to see if I was ok, this black smoke started coming from the guy and headed towards us. Your Jane Doe just put her hand in it and it burst into flames along with the guy’s body. When the fire died, there was nothing left of him but some scorch marks on the pavement.”

Sam shares a knowing look with his brother for a moment, then says to Kate with a light smile, “Sounds like she saved your life.”

“She did. That much I know for sure,” she replies, with a grateful expression on her face.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Winchesters get into the Impala and drive down to the nearest motel. They check in and get settled in their room. Sam digs in his duffel bag and grabs some African Dream Root, Jade’s hair, and the other ingredients needed to make Dream Tea.

“Alright, it should be good now. You ready?” Sam asks his brother, handing him a cup of the tea.

“As ready as I'll ever be,” Dean responds.

Sitting on their beds, they chug until both of their cups are empty. In seconds they pass out, falling back on their mattresses.


	5. Fool's Gold

Groggily, Sam and Dean wake up lying in the middle of a forest inside of Jade’s mind. They look around and see a cabin similar to the one Jade had when they first met. Cautiously, they walk up to the house and open the front door. At first, things don't seem that much different from their real-life counterparts, but then they notice that the furniture seems more recently used than what they saw before. Also, instead of cobwebs and old twigs, there are actually substantial flames in the fireplace.

As he gets closer to the hearth, Sam finds a small wooden toy horse sitting on top. He moves to pick it up, but stops when he hears little feet coming down the stairs. The boys turn to see a little girl standing at the bottom of the steps. She looks like a ten-year-old version of Jade, wearing a simple brown Renaissance-style dress.

The little girl stares wide-eyed at the Winchesters for a moment, then calls up the stairs, “Mama?”

Seconds later, Jade comes down the stairs wearing a similar dress to that of the girl, and with her hair down to her waist. She holds the girl tightly, and tells her, “Go to your room, Mira. It'll be alright.”

She kisses the girl on the forehead, then with a loving smile, she lets her go upstairs. As soon as Mira is out of sight, Jade’s expression turns dark and pained.

Still facing the stairs, Jade asks with a broken voice, “Why are you here?”

“You've been in a coma for the past four days. We thought something might be wrong,” explains Sam.

Confused, she turns to them, asking, “Four days?” With a puzzled look in her eyes, she moves closer to him, but then flinches, clinging to the side of her head as her mind gets hit with searing pain.

As she processes the thoughts coming from the Winchesters, the scenery and her attire start to morph. Her old-timey dress changes to her modern skinny jeans, t-shirt, and boots. The cabin turns into the bunker, then into a blurry version of Pub 21’s parking lot.

As the pain ceases and her mind settles, everything around them becomes clearer. Jade straightens up while looking curiously at a man lying on the pavement. Pitch black smoke seeps from him, then he and the smoke spontaneously combust.

“Demon,” she says tiredly to the brothers.

“Yeah. He attacked you and this bartender the other night, and you have been passed out since,” says Dean.

“Is she alright?”

Sam places a comforting hand on Jade’s shoulder and eases her worry, “She's safe. You did good.”

With the corners of her mouth slightly turned up, she looks up at him and replies, “Good.”

After a moment, their surroundings flicker back to the living room of her cabin, and her attire turns back to that of the Renaissance era once again. As the smile fades from her face, she backs away from Sam’s touch and tells the boys, “I need you to leave.”

“What?” says Sam.

“I was in a coma like this for almost two years once; it's not going to kill me. I don't even know if there is anything that can kill me. All I know is that I'm about to have dinner with my little girl right now, and for my sanity, I need you to get out of my head,” she says with urgency.

“So you're just going to stay here with the ghost of your daughter? You do understand she's not really here, right?” says Dean impatiently.

She looks up at Mira who is standing at the top of the stairs, shuts her eyes and clenches her jaw to keep from crying. As her eyes slowly open, they glow golden yellow. She simply responds with a quivering, “Yes,” snaps her fingers, then Sam and Dean wake up with a jolt in their motel room.


	6. The Price of Immortality

When the Winchesters vanish, Jade’s eyes fade to their natural brown as she looks up at the memory of her daughter.

Mira nervously walks down the stairs and asks, “Are you alright, Mama?”

Masking her grief with a soft smile, Jade tells her, “Of course, baby. Let's get supper ready.”

Mira chops some vegetables while Jade sets a pot half-full of water over the fire. After throwing all of their stew ingredients in the pot, they sit by the fireplace together and wait for it to be done cooking. As they watch the contents of the pot boil, the flames suddenly extinguish. Jade instinctively reaches for Mira’s hand next to her, but finds nothing. In a panic, she feels around in the darkness.

After a few seconds, the room is illuminated by candles surrounding a bed. Jade slowly walks to it, dreading the memory it holds. She sits on the side of the bed and peers down at the elderly Mira lying dead under the covers.

With tears in her eyes, Jade brushes Mira’s hair out of her face and laments, “Goodbye, baby.” When Jade stands and backs away from the bed, the sheets catch fire from the candles and quickly become engulfed in flames. Not long after, the fire spreads to the rest of the house and completely surrounds Jade. She shuts her eyes and lets it consume her. She feels all of the heat, all of the searing pain as the embers burn her flesh, but she does not scream or run. More importantly, she does not die.

She does not join Mira in Heaven. Instead, she opens her eyes to find herself lying in a hospital bed with vital sign monitors hooked up to her arm.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Winchesters pack their things into the Impala and start driving home. While on the road, Sam gets a call on his cellphone.

“Hello,” he says.

“Agent Rose? This is Doctor Magnus. Jane D- Jade Ambrose has regained consciousness.”

Shocked, he looks at Dean with wide eyes and tells her, “Thank you. We'll be there soon.”

Hanging up, he relays the message to his brother, who then swiftly makes a U-turn and starts heading to the hospital.

As they make their way to Jade’s room, they overhear her saying, “I appreciate your concern, Doctor, but I'm fine. Your tests even show there's nothing wrong with me.”

As they walk in, Doctor Magnus replies, “I know they do, but I'm still hesitant to release you. You were in a coma for almost five days, after all.”

Dean says, “Don't worry, Doc. We'll keep an eye on her.”

Jade looks at the Winchesters frustratedly, then asks Doctor Magnus, “Can I just get my clothes and go please?”

Feeling arguing further would be futile, the doctor throws up her hands defeatedly and walks out of the room. As soon as she's gone, Dean closes the door so he and Sam can speak with Jade privately.

“What changed your mind about waking up?” asks Dean.

“Some things I'd rather forget,” she responds with a distant look on her face.

The boys look at each other for a moment, then Sam asks, “Are you ok?”

“Your thoughts flooding into my brain was pretty jarring, but I'll be alright. By the way, don't use dream root on me again. I know you guys were trying to help, but it's hard enough maintaining my sanity without other people messing around in my head.”

Looking at her with his signature puppy dog eyes, Sam tries to think of something to say, an apology, a comforting phrase, anything. Before he can find the words, Doctor Magnus returns with a clipboard and a small bag of clothes.

She hands Jade the bag and the clipboard, while saying, “Here is everything you had on you when you were brought in, and this is a form saying you're leaving the facility against medical advice. It's basically saying you understand the risks, but are still deciding to leave the hospital.”

“Thank you,” replies Jade as she fills out the paperwork. When she completes the form, she hands the clipboard back to Doctor Magnus, who then promptly leaves to tend to other patients. Shortly after, Sam and Dean step out of the room as well so that Jade can change out of her hospital gown. She throws on her jeans, t-shirt and shoes, then meets the boys outside of her room.

“You guys are going to keep following me around, aren't you?”

“When we can,” Dean responds casually.

“It'd probably be easier for everyone if you just stay in the bunker. We can make sure you don't go rogue, and you won't have to deal with being in a hospital whenever you pass out,” suggests Sam.

As they walk towards the exit, Jade replies, “Trust me, you won't really be able to do anything if I ‘go rogue.’ That being said, I guess I'll crash with you guys ‘til I can rebuild my cabin. It'll save me _some_ trouble. Just don't expect me to be a weapon for you guys. I can help you when necessary, but it is not my job to kill every single evil thing you find in the world.”

“Fair enough,” says Dean.


	7. Heart and Soul

Jade moved in about two weeks ago, and to the Winchesters, it's like she is not even there. They barely ever see her when she's not in her room or heading out to work on her cabin. Sitting at the table in the library one day, they notice her look through the shelves, pick out a few of the books, then quickly return to her room. She walks in and out of the room completely focused on her task that she goes without saying a word or even acknowledging their presence.

The boys look at each other curiously and shrug, then Sam gets up and follows her to see what she's up to. When he gets to her room, the door is slightly ajar with light shining through the crack. He knocks, slowly pushes the door open, and finds her sitting at her desk facing away from the door. She's wearing a tight-fitted t-shirt with baggy sweatpants, and is hunched over one of the old books from the library. Every few seconds, she’ll stop reading and jot down something in a notebook on her lap.

“Jade?” he says, slowly stepping into the room.

“Hm?” she hums in response without turning away from her research.

Watching her work, Sam scoffs with a hint of a smile on his face, “This is the real reason you came back here with us, isn't it?”

Still not stopping to face him, she nonchalantly replies, “Smart man.”

For a moment, he looks at her with a slight bitch face behind her back, then asks, “What are you looking for exactly? We might be able to help you.”

She merely hands him her notes and keeps reading. As he skims through the notebook, he furrows his brow in confusion and says, “You want to become human?”

She says nothing, so he continues reading and realizes what she's really researching.  
“You're trying to find a way into Heaven.”

After a few seconds of silence, she simply holds her hand out towards Sam, signaling him to return her notebook. He hands it back to her and starts to walk out.

With his hand on the door, he looks back at her and sullenly says, “You're doing all of this to see your daughter again, aren't you?”

Looking at him from the corner of her eye, Jade considers letting him know more, but she stays quiet.

“We have a way to remove grace from its vessel. I can't promise it’ll work on you, but we've done it once before.”

She stands up and walks to be mere inches from him. She squints her eyes and tilts her head as though to study him. Nervous and a little scared of what she might do, he instinctively backs into the door. After a moment of her analyzing his entire being, her eyes grow wide in shock.

“You used it on yourself, didn't you?”

Surprised, Sam looks down at himself and replies, “How... You can see that?”

Gradually composing herself, Jade clears her throat, backs away from him and explains, “I can see you've been possessed by an angel before, twice actually. Angels leave traces of themselves in the people they possess.”

“Yeah, like fingerprints, right?”

“Right, but aside from remnants of their grace, angels also leave a mark on their host’s soul, sort of like a brand.”

“I'm guessing that means you can tell which angels have possessed me then?” asks Sam, uncomfortably looking at his feet.

Knowing he must be referring to Lucifer’s mark on his soul, she hesitates and chooses her words carefully, “I can, but that doesn't matter to me. I'm only interested in the fact that you have two brands, but the grace is completely gone. I understand this procedure might not work on me, but I have to at least try.”

He meets her eyes and says, “Then I should warn you that I'm the only one it's ever been tested on and it's extremely painful. It almost killed me.”

“Thanks for the heads up, but that won't be a problem.”

“Alright, I'll get what we need for it then,” says Sam. He leaves the room and she quickly follows after him.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sam takes Jade to the bunker’s lab and has her lay back in an examination chair, the same one he sat in to have Gadreel’s grace removed. Shortly after, Cas joins them with a metal box in hand. He sets it down next to Jade and takes a syringe out of it. She relaxes, brushes her hair to one side, and exposes her neck to show she's ready for the grace extraction process.

Cas places his hand on her forehead and points the syringe at a spot behind her earlobe.

He asks her, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Don't worry, I can take it.”

Cas and Sam look at each other and shrug, then he begins to slowly push the needle of the syringe into her skin. She barely flinches as he pushes it deeper. As soon as the needle touches her grace, energy suddenly explodes from her body in a massive shockwave. It sends Sam and Cas flying into the wall, and scatters all of the equipment onto the ground.

She jumps out of the chair and runs to their side. “Are you alright?!”

Groaning, Sam rubs the back of his head and finds he's bleeding from a small gash under his hair. He wearily pushes on the wall to get himself up, and tells her, “I'm fine.” When he finds his balance, he smiles at her and softly laughs, “I've had worse.”

She smiles back at him and sighs in relief, “Oh thank god. You didn't mention this process could hurt you guys too.”

Cas stands up, brushes himself off and touches Sam’s forehead, healing his wound. “We didn't know… but I should've seen it.”

Sam asks, “What are you talking about, Cas? This didn't happen with me. How could you have known?”

The angel explains to him, “You only had traces of grace in you. She has one of the most powerful graces in creation, and it's fused with a human soul. I should've known it would be more volatile.”

Cas then turns to Jade and says regretfully, “I'm sorry, but if we try this again, your soul might explode and obliterate everything in this state, maybe in the next as well.”

Her eyes fill with disappointment, then she says, “I guess I'll just have to keep looking for another way then.” And at that, she walks out of the lab and returns to her research.


	8. The Stuff of Nightmares

Jade spends days looking through the library's old books, determined to find something that'll help her. After studying and testing various ways of potentially extracting grace and souls, she finds that none of them work, at least not on her. She throws herself onto her bed, wanting to just fall into her own mind again and never wake. To spend the rest of eternity in her makeshift Heaven.

As she's shutting her eyes, she hears a faint distressed yell and pops out of bed on alert, listening for the sound to repeat. She goes out into the hallway to check where the sound is coming from. Knowing Dean and Cas are out on a supply run, she doesn't bother checking their rooms. As she gets closer to Sam’s door, she hears him groan loudly and call for Dean as though he's in serious pain.

She knocks and speaks to him through the door, “Sam? Is everything ok in there?”

He offers no response other than more worrying moans.

She gradually opens the door and peeks in to find that he's merely sleeping. Letting out a breath of relief, she slowly approaches his bedside. When she gets closer, she sees he is completely panicked, and his t-shirt is clinging to him from all his sweat.

Jade lightly pats his arm to try waking him up. It fails. She sits on the edge of the mattress and tries again, saying, “Sam, wake-”

Suddenly, his eyes pop open. In one swift motion, he grabs her throat with one hand, her wrist with the other, and pins her to the floor on her back. With a fierce, crazed look on his face, he holds a firm vice grip on her neck, practically crushing her windpipe with his large calloused hand. Gasping for air, she grabs the hand on her throat with her free hand, and tries to pry it off without harming him.

She manages to loosen his grip enough to barely get out a few words, “Sam- It's me- just me.”

His eyes widen as he realizes that he's in the real world and no longer trapped in his own subconscious.

“Jade?” he says, sporadically breathing.

She looks him in the eyes and frantically nods in response. Quickly, he lets go of her, sits on the floor, and backs away from her until he's leaning against the side of his bed.

Hyperventilating, he runs his fingers through his long damp hair and stammers, “I- I'm sorry. I-”.

She sits up and scoots her way over to sit next to him, “It's alright, Sam. Just breathe. I'm ok, really.”

He looks down at his quivering hands, then buries his face in them. With sad concerned eyes, Jade looks at Sam, then reaches over and gently rubs his back with one hand. Instinctively, he shuts his eyes, slows his breathing down, and leans back into her comforting touch. For the next few minutes, they stay just like that in total silence.

When he finally calms his nerves, he says to her, “Thanks, Jade. It's been a while since I've had a nightmare that bad.”

Pulling her knees up to her chest, she withdraws her hand from him and asks, “What was it that terrified you this much?”

With a pained expression on his face, Sam pauses, considering if he should tell her of his past or keep it to himself. It's not exactly something he enjoys sharing with people who don't already know. From the corner of his eye, he notices some bruising on her neck and is hit with an immense amount of guilt. He figures she has a right to know considering everything that just happened, everything he did. After a moment, he watches the wound heal and disappear as if it was never there.

He swallows hard and tells her, “It was my memories of Hell... of Lucifer.”

Sam meets Jade’s eyes with his, and sees they're full of worry. No judgement, no fear, only concern for him.

“When Lucifer escaped his cage several years ago, we couldn't find a way to kill him, so I let him possess me, then threw myself into Hell.”

He breaks eye contact with Jade as the memories start flooding his mind again. Gazing down at his hand, he squeezes the center of his palm, as he did when he would hallucinate about the fallen archangel.

“He tortured me... tore me apart countless times, made me see things. After I got out, my mind was a mess. I couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't. I couldn't sleep, I'd see Lucifer everywhere, and it eventually put me in a coma. I'd probably still be like that today if Cas didn't take the trauma from me.”

“I'm sorry you had to go through all of that. I'm glad you were able to recover at least. Guess that angel boy isn't so bad.”

Fondly remembering times with their feathered friend, Sam smirks to himself and says, “Yeah, he's our best friend. He's been through Hell for us. He has literally died for us multiple times.”

“You boys have lived some very eventful lives for a couple humans and an angel,” Jade jokes with a soft smile forming on her lips.

He breathes out a laugh and replies, “Our lives have been pretty crazy. You might not believe me when I tell you some of what we've been through.”

Glad to see him in a better mood, she looks him in the eyes and lightheartedly challenges him with a simple, “Try me.”

Surprised and amused, he says, “Ok. I -uh- guess I should start from the beginning,” then he proceeds to share with her the CliffsNotes version of their very complicated lives.

He tries to focus on the better times as he speaks, to keep the mood light and not somber like earlier. All through his recounting, Jade graciously listens: smiles and laughs with him as he details happier times, and sympathizes when he mentions the worst of times. At the end of it all, she finds he was right. If she couldn't see his soul and see that he’s telling the truth, she might not believe some of what he's saying.


	9. Solitary

The morning after Sam’s very emotional day, he goes to Jade’s room to thank her for helping him through it. When he gets to her door, he finds a note stuck to it saying, “Gone to work on my cabin for a few days. Should be back in a week. Call if you need to.”

While heading to the kitchen for some breakfast, he calls her cellphone. As it rings a few times, he looks through the fridge for something to eat.

When it goes to voicemail, he nervously records a message for her saying, “Hey, Jade. It's Sam. I just wanted to say thanks for everything yesterday, and -uh- if you want, I could come out and help you with your cabin sometime... Anyway, see you when you get back.”

Dean’s deep amused voice comes from behind his brother, teasing, “Sammy, don't tell me you have a thing for the girl with a literal death wish.”

Sam gets startled, hangs up the phone and quickly turns around to see his brother walking into the kitchen with his laptop. He clears his throat and tries to casually explain himself, “I was just seeing if she needed help with her house.”

“Uhuh, _sure_ ,” replies Dean with a smirk on his face.

Changing the subject, Sam gestures towards the laptop and asks, “You find us a case?”

“Yeah, looks like there might be a ghost in Des Moines. I'll tell you the details in the car.”

Sam nods, quickly makes himself a sandwich, then the brothers leave the kitchen and head for the Impala.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jade is driving down the long empty road towards her cabin when her phone rings. She checks the name on the screen. It's Sam. She considers answering, but then just sends the call to voicemail, throws the phone onto the passenger seat and looks back at the road. As she drives, she reminds herself that she's getting too close to the Winchesters, too familiar.

She's glad she could help Sam, but she will not to get too attached, not to him, nor to anyone else. She can't. People live their entire lives in mere brief moments of hers. Plus, these men have died multiple times before they’ve even hit forty. Allowing herself to care for someone with such a finite existence only signs her up for more loss, more grief, and more pain. And so she keeps driving, hoping she can finish the work on her place soon and return to her life of seclusion.

After a few hours, Jade reaches her cabin. All of the framework is already complete, and some of the walling is finished as well. Guess that's a benefit to living in the middle of nowhere: she can use her telekinesis out in the open to rebuild her home.

In the center of the cabin’s first floor is a large pile of building material covered by a tarp. As she moves to remove the tarp and start her work, she hears some rustling in the forest and stops. With glowing eyes, she peers out from the skeleton of her home.

As she steps outside, she is hit with a dart in her neck. Barely fazed by the impact, she removes it and throws it aside. After a moment, she begins to feel dizzy and her vision becomes blurry, causing her to lean against one of the beams of her house for support. She senses another dart being fired towards her, and waves her hand just in time to have the dart embed into the wood, rather than hit her.

The dizziness turns into pain. When she sees multiple figures coming towards her, Jade forces herself to stand and fight. She has the two-by-fours lying on her floor rise up and fly into her attackers. A few manage to get up right after the impact and aim their guns at her. She quickly clenches her fist in their direction and causes them to explode. When she does, she flinches as more pain surges through her body.

Barely holding onto consciousness, Jade sees a few more figures approaching her. Breathing heavily, she raises her hand to kill them as well, but is hit with another dart in her shoulder, causing her to pass out.


	10. Descent into Madness

With her head throbbing, Jade wakes on the floor of a white cell with a camera in a top corner of the room. As she sits up, she sees flashes in her mind of doctors injecting her with some type of serum. She clutches the side of her head as she tries to sort out her memories and figure out where she is.

Looking into the camera with panic and confusion in her eyes, she yells, “Hello?!”

A British man in a suit, and another in a lab coat, watch her on a monitor in a small meeting room.

“Doctor Reed, how much did you give her?” asks the man in the suit.

“As much as I could without completely breaking her. Lower doses and torture were ineffective.”

“Be sure not to go past this dosage. We want her compliant, not insane.”

“Yes, sir,” says Reed as he watches Jade pace back and forth on the monitor.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's been ten days since Jade left the bunker. Sam sits at the war room table with a beer and his laptop open in front of him.

With a concerned expression on his face, he says into his phone, “Hey, Jade. It's Sam. Dean and I just wanted to make sure everything was alright. Please call back when you get this.”

When he hangs up, his brother walks in holding a duffel bag and says, “Voicemail again?”

Sam sullenly nods, asking, “You ready to go?”

“Yeah. Cas and Jack are gonna meet us at her cabin.”

While grabbing and packing up his laptop, Sam looks puzzled at Dean and says, “I thought you still didn't trust her enough to let her know about Jack.”

“If something managed to take her out, we're gonna need all the help we can get to gank it,” says the older Winchester as they head up the stairs to leave the bunker.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Using the tip of her finger, Jade singes letters into the wall to write out her memories, or at least the ones she can recall. She leaves a small space for her time as a human with the name Mira at the end of it. She remembers that period of her life existed, just not any details other than her daughter’s presence. She doesn't even remember her own name from back then, her real name.

Muttering to herself, Jade writes, “Rogziel,” and adds various notes about the angel’s life, as well as points about when Jade went by that name. As she walks herself through what she can remember of her life, the name Mira repeatedly pops up. In most instances, she writes a year underneath the name, each being in a different century.

Jade tries to recall the other dates and becomes deeply frustrated when she can't remember them. She grows increasingly distressed each time she can't recall a part of her past.

She's so focused on the holes in her memory that she doesn't notice the door of her cell open. Quietly, Doctor Reed walks in behind her and swiftly injects a serum into her neck. After a few seconds, she grips the sides of her head in pain and falls to her knees as her mind gets torn apart even more.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Winchesters arrive at the cabin first and instantly notice the debris on the ground: pieces of two-by-fours scattered in front of the entrance. As they step out of the Impala, they both pull out their guns, and Sam tries to call Jade once again. He walks up to her abandoned car to check if anyone or anything is inside.

As he looks in the window, his heart drops when he sees her keys and her cellphone are inside. Shutting his eyes, he hopes she's alright and that they find her soon.

“Sam!” he hears Dean yell, snapping him out of his trance.

Sam shouts back, “Yeah?!” as he heads towards his brother who's standing by the cabin entrance.

Dean shows Sam a dart he found on the ground, and another embedded into the wooden framework. They look down the road as they hear a car coming. It's Cas and Jack. When they get out of the car and join the Winchesters, Dean shows them what he found.

“Humans took her?” asks Cas with a confused expression on his face.

“British Men of Letters. They're the only other people alive who know where this place is, and have a reason to attack her,” explains Dean.

Riddled with guilt that they brought all of this to her door, Sam rubs his hand over his face, stalks to the Impala and mentally pleads, “Jade, please be ok. We’ll find you, I promise. Dean and I will find you.”

Jack asks, “What are the British Men of Letters?”

“They're just humans, Jack,” says Cas.

Pissed off and worried, Dean rants, “They're a bunch of stuck up bastards that think they're saving the world, while they torture and kill whoever doesn't follow their stupid system.”

Cas calms Dean a little bit by putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. After a moment, the angel and the nephilim suddenly flinch.

The older Winchester supports his best friend’s weight and asks, “Cas? Guys? What is it?”

“I- I'm not sure, but I think it's Jade,” says Cas with a pained look on his face. “It's difficult to make sense of what she's saying, but it sounds like her voice… She's not well, Dean. I don't think she's even aware that she's talking to every angel in creation right now.”

“What makes you say that?”

“She said, ‘Who are you? Who is Dean? Where am I?’”

“Wait, she asked who _I_  am?” Dean says puzzled.

A second later, he realizes what must be happening, looks at his brother sitting in the Impala and utters, “I think I know who she's trying to talk to.”

At that, he rushes to the car and bangs on the passenger side window. Sam looks up from his laptop and rolls the window down.

Before his brother could say anything, Dean asks him, “Are you praying to Jade?”

“What? No, I'm looking through traffic cams to see if I can find their car.” he says with a furrowed brow.

“Did you pray to her earlier?” asks Dean as Cas and Jack join him next to the Impala.

Thinking of his mental state from a few minutes ago, he realizes, “I might've unintentionally. Why are you asking?”

“I think she's trying to answer you, but she's tapped into angel radio instead.”

Shocked with a glimmer of hope, he gets out of the car and says, “What?! What's she saying? Is she ok?”

With a sorrowful expression, Cas replies, “I'm afraid not. They've done something to her mind. She doesn't remember either of you, and has no idea where she is.”

Sam clenches his jaw to keep his worry in check, then asks the angel, “Do you think you can find her if I keep her talking?”

“I should be able to, yes.”

“Great, let’s go,” he declares as he gets back in the passenger seat and immediately starts praying to her while Dean gets behind the wheel. Cas and Jack quickly hop in the back and they drive off in the direction of Jade’s prayers.


	11. The Embodiment of God's Wrath

“Jade, it's Sam. I know your mind is a mess right now, and I'm so sorry for that. Just know that you can trust me and Dean. We're coming to get you, I promise.”

Those words repeat in Jade’s mind over and over again. She strains to remember who Sam and Dean are and why they're so determined to find her, to save her.

Lying on her side on the floor, she mumbles, “Please hurry. I'm so tired. They don't let me sleep.”

She jumps at the sound of her door opening and watches terrified as Doctor Reed enters with a couple of armed guards in body armor. She backs up against the wall as they come closer to her.

“Get out!”

“Just relax, Jade. We're trying to help you,” says Doctor Reed as he slowly inches towards her with a syringe.

“I said get out!” she yells and shoves the doctor away.

The guards shoot darts in her direction. She redirects them telekinetically, but the guards manage to hit her with one in her leg. The second it impacts, she flashes her golden eyes at them furiously, gestures at the wall next to her, and causes the three men to fly into it headfirst, killing them instantly.

She limps towards the door, but suddenly doubles over in unbearable pain. Pushing through the agony, she crawls to the open door and pulls herself up with the handle. She edges down the white hallway to look for a way out, using the windowless wall for support.

As the dizziness and the pain grow, she slides down the wall to the ground. Right before she passes out, she feels a chill in the air and sees a face she'll never forget.

“Mira,” she whispers as she gives into the drug and shuts her eyes.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After more than a day’s worth of driving, the Winchesters, Cas, and Jack find the warehouse containing the new British Men of Letters compound and drive right through the gate. The four of them get out of the car, and Sam immediately shoots the two guards by the entrance. He opens the warehouse door, then Dean goes in and fires a grenade at the group of guards in front of the compound, clearing the way.

Jack places his hand on the compound’s door and blows it open. Cas leads them down the hallway to where he senses Jade’s presence, cutting down guards with his angel blade along the way. When they get to her cell, Jack pulls the door off its hinges telekinetically.

When the four of them enter the room, they are taken aback by what they find. The walls are covered with words and symbols burned into the paint, and Jade is lying face down in the middle of the floor. Dean and Cas guard the door, while Sam and Jack check on her.

Sam turns her onto her back and she gradually starts to wake up. With sadness in his eyes, he cups her cheek as she opens her eyes. The second she sees she's not alone, her eyes go wide in terror and she pushes Sam off her. She backs herself into the nearest corner and pulls her knees up to her chest.

“Leave me alone!”

“Jade, it's alright. It's us,” says Sam in a comforting tone as he slowly moves to crouch in front of her.

“Sam?” she utters hesitantly, looking up at him.

Softly smiling at her, he replies, “Yeah, it's Sam. You remember us?”

She breaks eye contact with him and shakes her head, curling into herself more as she does. He pulls her into his chest and consoles her as best he can.

With tears forming in her eyes, she mutters into his shirt, “I know your voice. I heard you in my head, but I wasn't sure if you were really there. It's getting harder to know what's real and what's not.”

“I know, but we're gonna take you home now, alright? It'll all be over soon.”

As he says this, he sees his breath condense in the air and feels chills all through his body. He keeps her close, looks around and sees a ghostly woman appear before them, a woman who looks like an older version of Jade. Feeling him shift, Jade peers up at his face, then follows his eyes to who he's looking at.

“You can see her too?” she asks. Sam nods, and she shoves him away, saying, “Then you can't be real either.”

“Mother...” the woman says with sorrow in her eyes.

“No! You're not here! You can't be Mira!” Jade yells as she clutches the sides of her skull. With her voice breaking, she sobs with tears streaming down her face, “I burned your bones myself.”

The ghost of Mira approaches Jade and kneels in front of her. She gently places her fingertips on her mother’s temple and says with a comforting tone, “Mother, settle your mind. Your friends are with you.”

White light shines from Mira’s hands for a few seconds, then she backs away, hopeful that she helped.

“I knew you weren't real. That never fails,” says Jade, clutching her head even tighter.

Jack looks at her with a sad expression on his face and goes to her just as Mira did. He cradles her cheeks and flashes the gold in his eyes. After a moment, golden light glows in her eyes and in the veins of her face. When the light fades, Jade shuts her eyes and Jack stands with Mira.

Jade flutters her eyes open and looks straight at Jack. She slowly stands, not breaking focus.

Squinting at the young man, she breathes out the word, “How?” Before anyone can say anything, her eyes widen as she sees his grace, and all she gets out in her surprise is, “Oh… interesting.”

Dean yells from the door as he fires off shots down the hall, “Guys! We gotta go!”

“He's right, you need to leave while you can,” says Mira urgently.

“I can feel your soul now; I know you're here. They summoned you as leverage, didn't they?”

Sullenly, Mira nods and explains, “They had a witch summon me and said you must kill these people for them, or they'll send me to Hell. I told them this was futile, but-”

Jade walks through her daughter’s ghost and directly to the door. She taps Dean and Cas’ shoulders, signaling them to move into the room, out of harm's way. When more guards come around the corner, Jade flashes her golden eyes. When they aim their weapons at her, she sends a massive wave of energy down the hall towards them, turning them into nothing more than large blood splatters on the wall.

She follows the hallway and searches each room for Mira’s soul, obliterating anyone in her path. Every time she kills one of them, she feels crippling pain surge through her, causing her to stumble into the walls. However, she doesn't lose consciousness, she lets her wrath and adrenaline push her through the agony.

As the pain builds, Jade gradually slows down until she's about to collapse. The boys find her, and Sam rushes to support her weight so she can keep walking.

As they make their way down the hallway, she says, “Sam… when this is over, please send her home, send her back to Heaven.”

“I will.”

They find the room where Mira's soul is being kept and bust the door wide open. The room has several guards, a man in a suit, and a witch putting spell ingredients into a cauldron on the table inside. Jade sees a small box made of glass and iron containing a radiant blue orb of light.

The witch holds the last ingredient above the cauldron, and the man in the suit says to Jade, “Kill the Winchesters and return to your cell.”

Her glowing eyes dart straight to the witch's hand, causing it to burst into flames, incinerating the spell ingredient as well. Then, Jade’s gaze falls on the man in charge. When she stares daggers into his eyes and slowly moves closer to him, the guards start to open fire with their poison dart weapons. She snaps her fingers, instantly making the darts and the guards explode, covering the boss in blood spatter. Telekinetically, she keeps him from moving a muscle.

“I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you have a thing or two to learn about torture. Let me show you how to _really_ break someone,” she says hauntingly as she places her palm on his forehead.

Golden light emanates from her hand and flows through his veins. After a moment, she lets go of him and he falls to the floor, seizing in agony. Jade turns to look at the ghost of her daughter, then finally gives into the pain coursing through her body and collapses.


	12. Love and Grief

After returning to the bunker, Sam carries the unconscious Jade to her room. With one firm arm under her legs, and the other arm behind her back, he holds her close and has her rest her head on his shoulder. When he gets to her room, he gently lays her on her bed and tucks her in under the covers. After a few minutes, Sam joins Dean, Cas, Jack and Mira in the library with one of the books from Jade’s room.

  
Sam says to them, “Looks like the spell to send a human soul to Heaven is pretty simple. We just-”

“Please don't,” Mira interrupts, “Not yet... I want to be here for her when she wakes.”

  
“With all due respect, we have no idea how long that'll take. You might go vengeful before then,” cautions Dean.

  
“If my sanity begins to slip, you may send me away early, but please allow me wait for her until then. I wish to say my farewells.”

  
The brothers look at each other, shrug, then Sam tells her, “Ok then.”

  
“Thank you.”

  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  
A month passes. Dean keeps the spell for sending Mira to Heaven set up in the library, just in case she goes insane and tries to kill them all. Sam spends everyday of that month sitting at Jade’s desk flipping through old books from the bunker’s library. Over time, Dean gets used to Sam turning down hunting cases and starts asking Cas and Jack to accompany him instead.

  
Mira watches over her mother. She observes the men in the bunker and finds they truly do care for the woman they call Jade. One day that Mira is looking into her mother’s room, she sees her mother resting well in her bed, and Sam asleep at the table with his head in a pile of books.

  
“Glad to see Sammy’s _finally_ getting some sleep,” Dean says to Mira from behind her.

  
She turns around and sees the loving gaze and soft smile he has while watching his brother sleep. It reminds her a little of her mother’s face, of her mother's doting and sincere affection.

  
“What does he work on in her room everyday?” asks Mira as they walk down the hall towards the kitchen.

  
“He's trying to help her get into Heaven. It's what she was working on before she was taken by the Brits.”

  
When they get to the kitchen, Dean gets a beer from the fridge and sits at the table.

  
Mira sits across from him and he asks her, “Got any idea how much longer it'll take Jade to wake up? I hate seeing my brother like this: so worried he forgets to take care of himself.”

  
“If all of the people she killed in that building were truly human, it shouldn't be much longer.”

  
“They were human, but why does that matter?” asks Dean while taking a sip from his bottle.

  
“Her power is not free. She pays a price every time she uses it. The more power she draws from God in one instance, the more she pays for it. Humans don't take that much to kill compared to other beings.”

  
Dean asks curiously, “What do you mean she pays for it? Pays how?”

  
With a sullen expression on her face, Mira explains, “In pain. She told me once that the minimum required of her would kill a man. The pain is so intense that she often has to sleep to repair the damage to her mind. The more pain, the more rest she needs. The drug those people gave her made it harder for her to focus and heal her mind on her own. I'm truly grateful to all of you for finding her when you did. They were getting close to breaking her completely.”

  
“Don't mention it. She saved our asses a while back; it's the least we could do,” replies Dean with a light smile on his face.

  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  
A few days later, Jade groggily opens her eyes. When she realizes she's in her own bed in the bunker, she lets out a sigh of relief with a peaceful smile on her lips. She turns her head to look around, and sees Sam jotting things down in a notebook at her desk.

  
As she slowly sits up and rests her back on the headboard, Sam notices her movement in the corner of his eye. He turns to face her, surprised he's even seeing her awake again. He smiles and gazes at her, grateful that she's alright, that she's safe.

  
To break the silence, Jade smiles back at him and asks him, “How long was I out this time?”

  
Realizing that he's been awkwardly staring at her, he clears his throat, looks away and responds, “A little over a month.”

  
“And have you been sitting there this whole time?” she asks, watching the blush on his face spread.

  
Embarrassed, he rubs the back of his neck and explains, “After everything that happened, I didn't feel right letting you wake up to an empty room.”

  
“Thanks,” she says, sincerely touched by his sweet gesture.

  
Grinning bashfully, she looks down at her hands, and chews on her bottom lip. As she's looking down, she feels a chill and sees her breath condense, causing the smile to fade from her lips.

  
“Mira’s still here, isn't she?” she asks, shutting her eyes.

  
Sullenly, he replies, “Yeah, she insisted on waiting for you to wake up before she leaves.”

  
Feeling her heart shattering, she clenches her jaw and says with a quivering voice, “Sam, I can't… I can't say goodbye to her again.”

  
Sam sits next to Jade on the bed and takes her hand into his, saying, “I know it hurts, and I can't imagine what it's like to lose a child, but I've lost enough people to know that it's better when you can be with them for this, rather than having them move on alone.”

  
As he speaks, tears trickle down her cheeks and he instinctively squeezes her hand to comfort her. “If you really can't do this, I understand, and I'll take care of it in the morning. But if you think you can, come find us in the library tonight, ok?”

  
Jade sullenly nods her head to let Sam know she heard him. Wanting to give her time to herself to think everything through, he gets up and starts to walk out.

  
As soon as he gets to the door, she calls to him in a soft voice, “Sam?” When he turns back, she looks up to meet his eyes with her tearful ones, and tells him, “Thank you.”

  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  
That night, Sam meets with Mira in the library to break the news and explain the situation as best he can.

  
“Your mother is awake now, but she'd like some time alone to process everything before seeing you. Also, I'm sorry to say this, but there's a chance she might not come tonight. She doesn't think she can handle saying goodbye to you again.”

  
With a disappointed expression on her face, Mira responds, “I see… I can't say I'm surprised. Every time I die, she looks worse than she did before. I think that's why she stopped having me resurrected: she couldn't bear the loss anymore.”

  
“If you don't mind me asking, how many times have you died?” asks Sam.

  
“Honestly, I lost count a long time ago. A few dozen times, at least,” she replies.

  
“Oh, I'm sorry,” is all Sam can think to say, realizing how much Jade has had to endure over the years.

  
After the silence sinks in, she asks him, “Could you do me a favor?”

  
“Of course.”

  
“Should my mother decide not to be here for this, please make sure she knows that I love her, and that I understand. If sending me off would destroy her, then I'd rather she not be here,” she says with sadness in her eyes.

  
“I love you too, Mira,” Jade says, standing in the doorway, with the whites of her eyes turned red from her tears.

  
Sam says to them, “I'll give you two some time to talk.” Then as he's walking past Jade to leave the room, he gently holds her hand for a second and whispers to her, “I'll be in my room if you need anything, alright?”

  
She nods to him and lightly squeezes his hand to show her appreciation of the offer. With a soft grin, Mira watches how Sam treats Jade, and feels relieved to know she's leaving her mother in such good caring hands.

  
Doing her best to mask the pain with a smile, Jade goes up to Mira and asks, “They treating you well up there? I was told Heaven’s been a bit of a mess the past few years.”

  
“Don't worry. My part of Heaven has been wonderful,” replies Mira, smiling back at her.

  
“Good,” says Jade as she's walking to the small cauldron on the table. With shaking hands, she grabs the last ingredient for the spell, turns to Mira and tells her, “I'll see you up there someday, I promise.”

  
Mira places her hand on Jade’s cheek, saying, “Goodbye, mother.”

  
“Goodbye, Mira,” whispers Jade as she completes the spell, causing her daughter’s radiant soul to float out of its containment and through the library ceiling.


	13. Shattered

Overwhelmed by everything that just happened with Mira, Jade sits at her desk and stares zombified at the mountain of research before her. For a while, she tries to look through the books, but each section of useless information just makes her increasingly frustrated and exhausted. When she can't handle keeping it together anymore, she shatters.

  
With his door open, Sam relaxes in his room, hoping everything with Mira and Jade went well, or as well as it could go at least. He fiddles with his phone, then jumps when he suddenly hears crashing sounds coming from the hall. He rushes out of his room and follows the noise to Jade’s door.

  
“Jade?” he calls through the door. Silence. He knocks. No answer.

  
Sam slowly opens the door to see if Jade is alright. Peeking into the room, he sees books strewn across the floor, and her chair in pieces. When he enters the room with worry, he finds Jade backed into a corner on the floor, with her knees up to her chest and her head buried in her arms.

  
Hearing her sob, Sam closes the door behind him, then sits next to her with his back against the wall. He gently rubs her shoulder, then guides her to come closer to him. He has her comfortably sit between his bent legs, rests her forehead against his chest and wraps his arms around her. As she weeps and trembles in his embrace, he silently consoles her by lightly brushing his hand over her hair and holding her tight.

  
Even though she knows she shouldn't be this intimate with him -or with anyone so mortal- she doesn't have it in her to run or push him away. She doesn't _want_ to run. She doesn't want to leave his warm, comforting embrace. She doesn't want to stop listening to the soothing rhythm of his heartbeat. Clinging to the front of his shirt, she breaks down into pieces as he tries everything he can to keep her together.

  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  
A few hours later, Sam opens his eyes and finds he fell asleep unintentionally. He instinctively rubs his face with one hand, then fondly looks down at the petite woman sleeping in his arms. She looks so calm, so peaceful, so relaxed, that he can't bring himself to move and wake her.

  
A few minutes pass, and Jade starts to shift. When she groggily rubs her eyes and opens them, she realizes where she is, where they are. She straightens up her back a bit to put a little space between Sam’s body and hers.

  
She says hoarsely, “Sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep on you. Must not have been comfortable.”

  
He clears his throat, then replies with a small embarrassed chuckle, “Oh no, it was -um- it was fine.”

  
Meeting her eyes, he lightly wipes away a stray tear from her cheek with his thumb, and adds, “I'm just glad you were able to get some rest.”

  
As he cradles the side of her face, she absentmindedly licks her lips and softly smiles up at him. Smiling back at her, he rests his forehead on hers. Simultaneously, they slowly shut their eyes, and sink into each other's touch. Sam gradually moves in closer, until his lips are mere centimeters away from hers.

  
Knock, knock.

  
Jade gasps at the sound and slightly pulls away, just enough to avoid kissing him.

  
Knock, knock, knock.

  
“Hey, Jade, is Sam in there?” they hear Dean call through the door.

  
Breaking eye contact, the younger Winchester bashfully lets out a breath of laughter and mutters, “I should probably get that.”

  
They stand up and Jade starts to clean up the mess on the floor. Sam opens the door just enough to talk with Dean, without letting him see into the room.

  
“Hey, you and Jade up for working a case with me? Figured it might help her get her mind off things, and get you outta the bunker. Seriously, man, it's been over a month; you need to get out a little.”

  
“Ok, yeah. Just give me a minute. I'll meet you at the Impala,” replies Sam.

  
Dean nods, then mouths, “How is she?”

  
Sam steps into the hallway for a moment to speak to his brother, accidentally letting him see the state of the room before shutting the door.

  
“About as good as you'd expect. It hit her hard last night, but she seems to be a little better right now,” whispers Sam sadly.

  
With a concerned look on his face, Dean says, “Well, hopefully she comes out with us. It should help her.”

  
He pats his little brother on the shoulder, then walks off to his room to pack a duffel bag. Sam goes back into the room and tells Jade about Dean’s suggestion.

  
“Sure, I'll join you guys. Getting outta here sounds pretty good right now, honestly,” she says.


	14. Where Our Minds Wander

Late in the evening, Dean, Sam, and Jade check into a double bedroom at a motel in Riverton, WY. Dean tosses his duffel bag onto one of the beds and goes into the bathroom. As Sam sets his bag down on the small table by the window, he notices the room doesn't have a couch or a rollaway bed.

  
He says to Jade, “You can take the other bed; I'll just get some extra sheets and sleep on the floor.”

  
“What? No, Sam...” she says, eyeing the bathroom for a second to see the door is still closed, then whispers, “You already slept on the floor this morning because of me. You don't have to do it again. Besides, I'm pretty small anyway; the bed is big enough for us to split without crowding each other.”

  
“Are you sure? I'm really fine with staying on the floor.”

  
“Sam, if you keep pushing this, I will knock you out, put you on the bed, and sleep on the floor myself,” she threatens with little-to-no real bite in her tone.

  
He lets out a breath of laughter, raises his hands in defeat, and says, “Ok, ok. I just didn't want to make you uncomfortable.”

  
“And I thank you for that, but I'll be fine, really,” she replies, smiling up at him.

  
Grinning back down at her, Sam looks deep into her brown eyes, glad to see her smiling after her meltdown earlier in the day. His mind and his eyes wander down to her light pink lips, remembering how close he got to feeling them on his. Suddenly, Sam hears Dean open the bathroom door, snaps out of his trance and clears his throat self-consciously.

  
As the older Winchester leaves the restroom, Jade passes him with her bag and goes in to change. When she comes out, Sam gulps seeing her head to bed in a short-sleeve nightshirt that barely goes past her upper thighs. His turn for the bathroom follows, and he washes his face with some cold water to try getting his mind out of the gutter. He throws on some sweatpants and a t-shirt, and heads back into the main room.

  
When he opens the door, he sees Dean lying in bed on his stomach with his head buried in his pillow. In the other bed, Jade is already asleep, facing the wall and curled up at the edge of the mattress, giving him most of the space. Sam leaves as much room between them as he can by sleeping on his side as well, mirroring her position.

  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  
Sam wakes in the middle of the night to the sound of heavy distressed breathing and movement behind him. He groggily rolls over and props himself up on one elbow to see Jade’s face and check if she's alright. His eyes grow sad when he sees tears streaming from her tightly-closed eyes, sees one of her hands digging its nails into her pillow, and the other clutching the mattress for dear life.

  
He gently shakes her shoulder and calls her name, but she's too far into her memories to wake from that. Unsure of how else to help her, he lies down right behind her, making his firm body flush with hers. He slips one arm under her pillow, and wraps the other around her waist to place his hand over her tense one.

  
After a few minutes, her breathing steadies, her heartbeat calms, and her grip on the bedding relaxes. Instinctively, she has her hand lace its fingers with his. Feeling Jade rest soundly in his arms once again, Sam shuts his eyes and drifts back to sleep.

  
Some time passes and he feels her turn around to face him, resting her warm inner thigh on his hip. He opens his hazy eyes and peers into hers as he pulls her in closer, watching for any resistance. When he sees none, he cradles her jaw and promptly captures her lips with his.

  
He grows hard as he presses against her body and needily grasps the thigh she has wrapped around him. He feels her tongue slip between his lips, so he meets it with his own. He slowly runs his hand up her leg to the edge of her nightshirt. As he slowly slides the fabric up past her supple lace-clad ass, along her slender waist, he hears a muffled voice calling his name. It gradually gets louder and louder, loud enough to recognize.

  
“Sam!” yells Dean, jarring the man out of his slumber.

  
Startled and confused, the younger Winchester pops up in bed hyperventilating and looking around the room frantically.

  
“About time you woke up! We gotta go talk to the cops and interview witnesses. Jade even got us breakfast already. Let's go,” says Dean as he leaves the motel room.

  
Sam gets out of bed, takes a brief ice cold shower, then joins the others in the Impala. The brothers are in the front, wearing some well-fitted suits for their F.B.I. ruse, and Jade is lying in the backseat, wearing the same. As Dean hands him a wrapped burger from the paper bag in between them, Sam nervously looks back at Jade. When their eyes meet, she blushes and quickly turns away.


	15. Working Through the Pain

It doesn't take much investigating for Sam, Dean, and Jade to figure out the people being kidnapped and killed in Riverton were taken by a vampire nest. They find that most of the victims disappeared while they were in Riverview Valley, a somewhat wooded area nearby. The three of them track the vampires to a small house that is supposed to be abandoned, according to records online. They pull up to the house in the Impala, step out, then go through the weapons in the trunk.

 

Avoiding eye contact with each other, Sam and Jade get out a couple of machetes and some syringes of dead man’s blood. Dean finds Jade’s scimitar and realizes he never got around to returning it to her.

 

He holds the handle out towards her saying, “Here, you should have this back.”

 

She eyes it for a moment, taps the machete on her side, and replies, “I'm fine with this, thanks. You can keep it.”

 

“Wait, really?” he asks with a little smirk on his face.

 

“Yeah, I don't need it anymore,” she says, pulling a couple daggers from her bag and holstering them at the back of her waistband.

 

The boys look at each other and shrug as Dean removes the sheath from the blade. As they move to enter the house, Sam and Dean wait by the front door as Jade goes around the back. After a minute, they bust in both doors and go to work.

 

Jade instantly beheads the vampire closest to the entrance. Three other vamps in the room jump out of their seats. One runs out of the room to warn the rest of the house, the other two bare their fangs at Jade. Licking her lips, she malevolently smirks as they charge towards her.

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

With her machete and her clothes covered in blood, Jade enters the next room of the house to meet with the Winchesters, and finds they're surrounded by half a dozen vampires. Disarmed, Sam and Dean are being held by the throat.

 

“Drop your weapons, or we'll snap their necks right now!” demands the leader of the nest.

 

Mildly frustrated, Jade clenches her jaw, stares at the Winchesters, and tosses her blades onto the floor.

 

Shutting her eyes for a second, she lets out a sigh of exhaustion, and says, “Boys,” flashes her golden eyes, and continues, “You owe me a drink after this.”

 

At that, she raises her right hand in front of her, and curls her fingers slightly. The sound of bones cracking can be heard as the hands holding Sam’s and Dean’s throats are forcibly removed.

 

When the vampires move to attack Jade, she swiftly turns her hand face down, parallel to the ground, causing all six of them to drop to the floor instantly. As a few of them struggle against her power, she lowers her hand gradually, adding to the crushing force they feel. Sam and Dean get their weapons back and promptly decapitate all of the vampires. As the three of them gather their things and head back to the Impala, Jade cleans off her weapons and burns the blood off her clothes.

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Sam, Dean, and Jade return to their motel room. The older Winchester takes a quick shower then heads out to grab some food for everyone. After Jade washes up and throws on a nightshirt, Sam goes to take a shower.

 

While alone in the bedroom, Jade stands by Dean’s bed and lightly fiddles with the scimitar he left out. With a distant expression on her face, she slowly runs her fingertips along the Enochian engraving.

 

“You know, you can tell Dean you want it back,” says Sam, coming out of the bathroom.

 

At hearing him speak, Jade's eyes dart in his direction and see he's just wearing a pair of sweatpants, and rubbing his hair dry with a towel. Blushing as soon as she sees his toned shirtless body, she immediately returns her attention to the blade in her hand, then sets it back down onto the bed.

 

She replies to him, “That's alright. It's no use to me, anyway.”

 

With a furrowed brow, Sam grabs his shirt from their bed and pulls it on, while asking, “What do you mean?”

 

Nervously, she avoids meeting his eyes with hers and fidgets under his gaze, unsure if she wants to answer him.

 

After a few seconds of silence, they sit next to each other on the side of their bed, and she explains with a quivering voice, “A few centuries ago, I was in a really dark place. It was the only time I had to burn Mira’s bones, and it broke me.”

 

She rubs her face to keep her composure as best she can and continues, “I hired a witch to make this. Told him to make it powerful enough to kill anything. If it worked, he'd be able to keep it or sell it to someone else. But it didn't work, so I got it for free.”

 

“How did you test...” he starts, but then trails off as he realizes what she's telling him. He looks at her, gets that sad puppy dog look on his face, and slowly breathes out the words, “You had this made to kill yourself, and it failed.”

 

She shuts her eyes for a moment and nods, adding, “It was a long time ago. This time is -uh- a little more manageable.”

 

Sam stares down at his hands silently, running through a thousand different things in his head, trying to think of how to respond.

 

Before he could decide, she breaks the silence by clearing her throat, and exhaustedly saying, “Anyway, like I said: it's useless to me, so Dean can have it.”

 

As Sam is about to say something, his brother comes back with dinner. Jade quietly goes around the bed and lies down on her side, facing the wall like she did the night before. She falls asleep almost immediately, before the boys even finish their food. After they eat, Dean gets in his bed, and Sam lies on his side of Jade's bed, facing away from her. Shortly after, they both fall asleep as well.


	16. Enjoy the Little Things

The whole drive back from Riverton to the bunker, Jade quietly plays with her phone in the back seat of the Impala. Every now and then, Sam looks back to make sure she's alright. When his glances happen to meet hers, she promptly looks at something on her phone. Dean notices, but doesn't comment on it. He just hopes that she sticks around and doesn't end up hurting his little brother.

  
When they get back to the bunker, Jade heads straight to her room, barely interacting with anyone. After tossing his bag on his bed, Sam grabs a couple of beers from the kitchen, then stops by Jade's room.

  
He knocks, then when she answers, he lightly gestures with the bottles, and asks, “Hey, wanna have that drink we owe you?”

  
Slightly grinning at the fact he took her statement seriously, she replies, “Sure, why not?”

  
She stands aside to let him in, then closes the door behind him. Sam sits on the edge of her bed, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. When she joins him cross-legged, he hands her a beer, and they lightly clink their bottles together.

  
They take a few swigs of their drinks in awkward silence, then Jade picks at the label on her bottle and says, “Sam, if this is about what I told you yesterday, you don't have to worry about it, really. I only told you because you asked.”

  
“Oh, no, this isn't about that. I just figured we could use some down time.”

  
She chuckles to herself and replies, “I was asleep for over a month; I think I've had enough down time for a while.”

  
He peers down at his bottle and laughs, saying, “Fair enough.”

  
He looks at her from the corner of his eye, and tells her, “Jade, I wanna apologize about the other night.”

  
Confused, she looks at him and asks, “For what?”

  
“For holding you while you were asleep. You made it clear you wanted each of us to have our own space on the bed, and I didn't stay on my side,” he says, bowing his head out of guilt.

  
“Oh, that... It was surprising to wake up with you around me, but I'm not mad at you. I had pretty bad nightmares that day, so I figured they had something to do with it.”

  
Sam nods and explains, “You looked really scared, and you were crying a lot.”

  
“Then you have nothing to apologize for. We're good, really,” she says, softly smiling at him.

  
The corners of his mouth curve up slightly, then he furrows his brow, looks at her and asks, “Wait, if you were ok with _that_ , then why've you been acting weird around me lately?”

  
With a blush forming on her cheeks, she takes a sip of her beer, looks down at her bottle, and replies, “You don't need to worry about it. You didn't do anything.”

  
“Jade, aside from this conversation, you've barely looked me in the eye since that night. Clearly, I did _something_.”

  
“You didn't. Not exactly, anyway… You don't need to know, Sam. You're just gonna get embarrassed,” she says while rubbing the back of her neck.

  
“Try me,” he says, imitating Jade’s challenge from a while back.

  
“ _Okay_ , well… When I woke up, you seemed very -uh- stressed. You were sweating a lot and making weird noises, so I thought you were having a nightmare about Hell again... but you weren't,” she explains while nervously averting her eyes.

  
As he realizes what she's implying, Sam squeezes his eyes shut and says, “Oh god… Don't tell me you saw my dream.”

  
“I told you you'd be embarrassed,” she replies, obviously trying to suppress the urge to laugh.

  
Burying his bright red face in his hands, he says, “How much did you see?”

  
“Just a few seconds. Didn't exactly take long to figure out what was going on,” she says, gently biting her bottom lip.

  
“I'm so sorry you had to see that,” he states, running his fingers through his hair.

  
Breathing out a laugh, she tells him, “Sam, it was just a dream; you can't control those.” Her face changes to a more serious expression with a slight grin as she adds, “Besides, it gave me a better start to the day than _my_ dream did.”

  
Still blushing all over his face, he smiles at her and says softly, “Well, that's good at least.”

  
She smiles back at him, then decides to have a little fun. She asks him, “Is it ok if I ask you about your dream?”

  
He lightly chuckles, takes a sip of his beer and replies, “Sure.”

  
Her smile turns a bit mischievous, and she asks, “Do you really think I wear pink frilly panties?”

  
The second he processes what she just said, he gives her his signature bitch face, and she starts laughing hysterically. As he takes in the sight of her sincere joy from this whole silly situation, he fondly smiles and hopes he can see her like this even more.


	17. The Things that Haunt Us

While Jade is looking through the bunker library, Jack walks in and says, “Hello, Jade.”

  
She turns around and her face lights up when she recognizes him. “Oh, hey! You're the kid that helped sort out my brain, right?”

  
“Yes, I am,” he replies with a childish smile.

  
Smiling wide, she hugs him tight and says, “Thank you.”

  
“You're welcome,” he says as he slowly returns her embrace.

  
As they pull away from each other, Sam enters the room and says, “Good, you guys were able to meet. I've been meaning to introduce you two since we got you back, but it's been pretty hectic around here.”

 

“How are you hiding him? If I wasn't looking right at him, I'd think he was just another human.”

  
“Honestly, it's all Jack. We're not really sure how he's doing it, but he's completely undetected by angels, demons, and apparently you too. That's sort of what I wanted you two to talk about, by the way,” Sam explains to Jade.

  
“About how he’s hiding?” she asks, mildly confused.

  
“About his powers. I figured if anyone can teach him about what he can do, it’s you. You're the only other nephilim we know.”

  
Skeptically, she says, “He's -what- sixteen and doesn't know what he can do yet?”

  
“Actually, I'm seven months, ten days, four hours, and twenty one minutes,” Jack states plainly.

  
Wide-eyed, Jade looks between Sam and Jack to see if they're just messing with her, but they look fully serious.

  
Seeing her reaction, Sam laughs and tells her, “It's a long story, but he really is that young.”

  
“I see. Well, I could show him some things, I guess. I doubt I know _everything_ he's capable of, though. Rogziel’s grace is very different from others.”

  
“Really?” asks Jack with innocent excitement in his eyes.

  
Softly smiling at him, she says, “Sure. It's the least I could do after what you did for me.”

  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  
Sam shows Jade and Jack to the bunker’s gym, then Dean and Cas join them shortly after. It has some basic old-fashioned equipment, like leather floor mats, punching bags, and barbells. Wearing simple workout clothes, the two nephilim stand and face each other in the center of the room, while the others stand against the wall and observe.

  
Jade says to Jack, “Alright, simplest thing for people like us to learn is how to fight. How about you show me what you already know, and we build on it as we go?”

  
“I'd prefer not to fight like you do. I want to help my friends and keep them safe, but I don't want to hurt people while doing it,” he replies. With a sad look in his eyes, he adds, “I killed a man while trying to fight a ghoul. I don't want that to happen again.”

  
Understanding his guilt and his pain, she gently clasps his shoulder and tells him, “I can't guarantee that your powers won't hurt someone again, but I can help you use them more defensively, if that's what you want.”

  
He slowly nods, then she backs away to put more space between them.

  
“Ok, then I'm going to try to attack you. It's your job to dodge or defend yourself with your powers. Doesn't matter if it's with telekinesis, teleportation, or disintegration. Got it?”

  
He nods once more, then Jade instantly hurls a barbell in his direction with her mind. When it's about to hit him, he instinctively holds up his hands to block his face. Waves of energy pulse from his hands and around the barbell, causing it to stop right in front of him, then go flying towards Jade. She quickly sidesteps to evade it, making it hit the wall several feet behind her instead.

  
“I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!” he yells wide-eyed.

  
Wanting to help Jack, Cas moves to walk towards him, but Dean lightly grasps the angel’s arm and stops him. Noticing the interaction between them, Jade signals them to stay back with a small gesture at her side.

  
She says with a calming voice, “Jack, it's ok. That's why we're doing this. We're gonna go again, but this time, try to send it into the floor. It's the safest place to redirect objects when you want to minimize collateral damage. Also, don't worry if you hit me. I can take it, trust me.”

  
As Jack relaxes somewhat, he looks at Jade and nods with a determination to learn, to be better. At that, she telekinetically lifts the barbell behind her and shoots it towards him once more.

  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  
After only a few hours of practice, Jack already feels much more confident in controlling his abilities. He thanks Jade for teaching him and tells her that he looks forward to their next session. She fondly smiles and watches Jack, Cas and Dean leave the gym.

  
“Kid learns fast, doesn't he?” she says amused as she starts returning all of the gym equipment to its original place with slight hand motions.

  
Sam grins to himself and responds, “Yeah, he does.”

  
While nervously looking away, he helps Jade clean up the gym and asks her as casually as he can manage, “Hey, you mind if we spar for a bit?”

  
“Sure, but shouldn't we do it tomorrow? It's pretty late, and _one_ of us actually needs sleep for survival,” she replies teasingly.

  
Breathing out a laugh, he says, “Tonight is fine. I'm not tired yet anyway.”

  
She shrugs, and drops the equipment at the side of the room.

  
“Ok then,” she says, and immediately tries to punch Sam in the face.

  
He barely dodges her attack, grabs her arm and tries to get her in a headlock. She slips out of his grasp and elbows him in the gut. She quickly spins around, gets behind him, and kicks the back of his legs, bringing him to his knees. Wrapping one arm tight around his throat, and the other under his arm to the back of his neck, she gets him in a headlock instead.

  
“You know, just because I have to go easy for you to survive this, doesn't mean I'm gonna be _that_ easy,” she jests against his ear.

  
Mischievously laughing, Sam stands with Jade on his back, then swiftly bows to throw her to the ground. The impact on her spine knocks the wind out of her for a second, giving him just enough time to pin her down. He quickly kneels on her thighs to keep her from kicking, and holds her wrists down onto the floor, next to her head.

  
She struggles enough to make his legs slip off of hers, causing him to fall between her thighs. The second his body becomes flush with hers, she freezes. Swallowing hard, she tries her best to keep her breathing calm, her heartbeat steady, but she fails.

  
She tries to ignore the warmth he's making her feel, the weight of his firm muscular body above her, the minuscule distance between her lips and his… She tries, but she is completely overwhelmed. She becomes hypnotized by the lust in his eyes, the need.

  
Staring deep into her eyes, Sam lets go of Jade's wrist, has his fingertips slowly trace down her arm, and gently cups her cheek. Hesitantly, he presses his lips onto hers. After a second, Jade closes her eyes and gradually moves her lips to follow his.

  
Sliding her free hand in between them, she grasps the front of his shirt, feeling his heart pounding in his chest. Wanting more, Sam slides his hand through her hair, to the back of her neck, then pulls her closer to deepen their kiss.

  
When he does this, the back of her mind begins to scream at her, reminding her that she's been down this road before. She tries to smother that part of herself, the part that desperately wants to stop losing people, the part that prefers isolation over grief. She tries, but it just gets louder the more he kisses her.

  
As soon as she feels his tongue graze her lips, and his hardening manhood press against her core through their clothing, she snaps out of her trance. She suddenly pushes against his chest to put a little space between them. With a concerned look on his face, Sam sits back on his heels and tries to catch his breath. Watching her sit up in front of him, he notices tears starting to form in her eyes.

  
“Jade,” he whispers, deeply wanting to hold her in his arms to keep her from crying.

  
Refusing to meet his gaze, she says with a broken voice, “I'm sorry… I… I can't do this,” then swiftly leaves the room.


	18. Our Worst Fears

After spending all night and all morning trying to go to sleep, Sam gives up and decides to go to the kitchen. When he opens his door, he finds a note from Jade on the floor. Walking down the hall, he reads the painful words the paper holds.

_Sam,  
I'm sorry about last night. I should never have let things get this far. I live in the middle of nowhere to avoid getting this close to people. I've stayed here much longer than I should have, and I'm sorry if I hurt you._

_You've been so good to me, and I'll be forever grateful. You kept me together after everything with Mira, and I can never truly repay you for that. I just can't bear to stay, knowing that I'll eventually have to watch you die._

_Farewell,  
-Jade_

When he has finished reading, he folds up the note and slips it into his pocket. Sam enters the kitchen with an exhausted expression on his face, making Dean look up from eating his burger.

Noticing his brother’s glum look, Dean says, “Guessing you saw Jade’s letter?”

“You read it?” Sam replies, giving him a bitch face.

“Hey, she's the one that left it in the hall, instead of slipping it under your door. What happened with you guys anyway?”

The younger Winchester grabs a beer from the fridge, then says with a dejected expression, “Not much… Doesn't matter; she's already gone.”

Concerned about his brother, but understanding of Jade, Dean says, “Sam, as much as I hate that she left you like this, I can't exactly blame her. I shut people out when we lost Cas and mom. Hell, you shut people out for a while after Jess, then again after Eileen and Kaia. Jade has probably lost at least as many people as we have, if not more.”

Sam sullenly nods, takes a swig from his bottle, then asks, “You find us a case?”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few weeks later, Jade completes construction on her cabin, and lies down to rest in her bed. As she shuts her eyes, her phone rings. Before even checking, she knows that it's Sam. He has been contacting her every now and then to make sure she's alright, and not taken by the British Men of Letters again. She answers every time to keep him from worrying more than he already is.

“Hey, Sam.”

“Hey, Ja-” she hears him cut off, followed by some muffled coughing.

Concerned, she asks, “Are you ok?”

Sam clears his throat and says with a hoarse voice, “Yeah, I'm just coming down with something. I'll be fine. I wanted to see how things were going with your house.”

“I finished everything this morning,” she responds, softly smiling about how he still checks on her like this.

“Great, I'm glad to hear that,” he says, coughs a few more times, then adds, “I'm sorry I couldn't find a way for you to be human again. I was hoping I'd be able to help you with that at least.”

“Sam, you've done more than enough for me already. Please don't beat yourself up over it.”

Hearing more muffled coughs through the phone, she asks, “Are you sure you're alright?”

Breathing heavily, Sam tells her, “Yeah, I -uh- I'm fine. I'm gonna go lie down now. I just wanted to talk with you for a bit before I -uh- get some sleep.”

Very audibly worried, Jade says, “Ok well, make sure that you get a lot of rest, and that you don't push yourself too much.”

“I will. Goodnight, Jade.”

“Goodnight, Sam.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A couple of days pass. Jade is driving to the nearest store to get some food when suddenly Jack appears in her passenger seat. Startled, she swiftly pulls over to the side of the road. Without saying a word, Jack places his hand on the dashboard, and teleports the car along with them to the garage of the Winchesters’ bunker.

Confused and mildly disoriented, Jade asks, “Jack, what're you doing?”

“We need your help,” is all he says before he places his hand on her shoulder and teleports them once more.

At the sound of wings flapping, Jack and Jade appear standing in Sam’s bedroom. Her heart drops the second she sees Sam pale and feverish, lying under his comforter, with Dean sitting in a chair by his bedside.

Shocked, Jade says, “Sam?” praying that she's just dreaming or hallucinating.

Slowly, Sam struggles to sit up and lean against the headboard. When he manages to get in a comfortable position, he squints and asks, “Jade? What're you doing here?”

Before she can even think of something to say, Jack states, “I brought her here to heal you.”

Sam looks at him with sorrowful eyes and breathes out, “Jack...”

“She can't heal people, kid,” Dean says sternly, with his eyes shut, and his hands clenched one over the other.

“But she's a nephilim like me. Why can't she heal him?” asks Jack with childlike disappointment and sadness in his voice.

Dean gets up from his seat, swiftly walks past Jade, and impatiently guides Jack out of the room. The slam of the door makes Jade jump, snapping her out of her shock.

“What happened?” she asks with a broken voice, digging her nails into her arm to stay focused, and to keep herself from crying.

“We were hunting something we thought was just a ghoul, and it bit me. We killed it, but I started feeling sick right after.”

“Show me.”

“Jade-”

“Show me, Sam,” she demands firmly.

He tilts his head to the side, then pulls the collar of his shirt to expose a bite on his shoulder, right above his collarbone. The teeth marks are deep and black, and the veins stemming from the wound look like they're full of tar instead of blood.

As Sam covers his injury again, he explains, “Jack and Cas tried to heal it, but all they managed to do is slow down the infection.”

Fighting the urge to cry, Jade asks, “This is why you called the other day, isn't it?”

Sam nods and says in a low, sullen voice, “I wanted to talk to you one more time… before… I'm sorry, I should've told you.”

Dean returns to the room and asks Jade urgently, “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

As soon as they step out and close the door, he tells her, “You need to burn the poison out of him like you did with that village.”

“Dean, that’ll kill him. You can't ask me to do that.”

He says sternly, “I'm not asking. I know the people you did this to died, but you didn't have Jack and Cas back then. The two of them should be able to keep him alive while you cure him.” With a hint of desperation, he adds, “Please, this is all we got. We've tried everything.”

Seeing the sheer unadulterated fear in his eyes, she remembers how she was one of the times Mira was dying. The overwhelming terror, the pure heartache. She realizes it's better to try. Even if Sam still dies, even though the odds say he will die from her cure, it's better to at least try it.


	19. Living and Surviving

Standing by Sam's bedside, Jade warns him with sad puppy dog eyes, “This is gonna hurt.”

 

“I've had worse,” he jests, exhaustedly smirking at her, trying to ease her worries.

 

As Sam lies down on his back in bed, Jade firmly tells Dean and Cas, “I need you to hold him as still as you can. If he moves too much, I might kill cells that don't need to be destroyed.”

 

Looking to Jack, she asks, “You ready?”

 

When he nods in response, Jade places her hand on Sam's injury, peers down into his eyes and tearfully whispers, “I'm sorry.”

 

As soon as she says this, her eyes glow, and the infected veins in his body start to fill with a golden light. As the tar-like substance gradually burns away, he yells in pain and struggles against the hands pinning him to the bed. The more the light spreads through his veins, the more he writhes.

 

As his screams get louder, Jade uses her free hand to cover her ear, and repeats, “I'm sorry, I'm sorry,” while tears stream down her face. The second the poison is gone, she declares, “It's done,” and backs away from him with her palms smothering her ears.

 

Jack swiftly takes her place and works to heal the damage done to Sam's body. When Jade can no longer bear his cries, and everything they remind her of, she promptly leaves the room. She backs into the wall outside of Sam’s door and slides down it to sit from complete emotional turmoil. Trembling as she pulls her knees up to her chest and tightly grips the sides of her head, she prays the pain is not enough to kill him, not enough to break him.

 

As the traumatizing noise dissipates, Jade lets her shaking hands slowly fall to her sides, and stands in anticipation. Dean, Cas and Jack come out and join her in the hallway with worried looks on their faces.

 

Cas informs her, “He survived our treatment, but he's unconscious. We'll have to wait and see how he is when he wakes.”

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

For the next twenty four hours, Dean stays by Sam's bedside, as he's had to do many times before. Across from him, Jade rests in a chair, holding Sam's hand and burying her face in her arms on the edge of the bed. After a while, she turns her head to peek at Sam’s face and check if he shows any signs of waking. This one little movement is just enough for Dean to see that she's been awake this whole time, crying this whole time. The red in her eyes and the dampness on her cheeks are all he had to see to know she sincerely cares for his brother. He gets up from his chair and lightly taps her shoulder, causing her to sit up and rub her face dry with her free hand.

 

Dean asks her in a soft, low voice, “Hey, you want a beer? I think we could both use one.”

 

“Yeah, that'd be great, thanks,” she replies with a hoarse voice.

 

He leaves the room, then returns with the drinks a few minutes later. He pops the bottles open, hands her one, then gets back in his chair.

 

After they take a few swigs, Dean says to Jade, “I know this won't stop you from worrying, but you should know that Sam's been through a lot before this, and he's survived it all. He lived in the worst part of Hell for a year, which is over a century down there. He's been tortured by pros, beaten and burned, and none of that's broken him yet. He'll pull through.” Fondly looking at his brother’s face, he smirks and adds, “He's a pretty tough son of a bitch… Don't ever tell him I said that, though.”

 

Breathing out a laugh, she sniffles and says, “Yeah, he is.” With a distant look in her eyes, she comments, “He told me that you've both been to Hell before, and I'm so sorry for that. I should've dealt with Lucifer a long time ago.”

 

Confused, Dean furrows his brow, but before he can respond to her, Sam’s hand twitches in Jade's, and all of their focus leaves their conversation. Sam groans, and with a pained expression on his face, he slowly opens his eyes.

 

“Hey, Sammy. How you feelin’?” asks Dean.

 

Playfully sarcastic, the younger brother replies, “Fantastic...” As he sits up to lean against the headboard, he continues, “and hungry… We got anything to eat?”

 

Laughing to himself, Dean clasps him on the shoulder, hugs him, then tells him, “Glad to have you back, man.” When Dean lets go, he says, “I'll see what I can find in the kitchen.”

 

After Dean leaves the room, Sam turns to Jade, and fondly smiles through the exhaustion.

 

“Hey,” he says softly, while gently squeezing the hand holding his, and stroking her knuckles with his thumb.

 

Smiling back at him, she lets go of his hand, lunges forward and wraps her arms around him. He promptly follows suit by holding her close, and cradling the back of her head as she buries her face into his shoulder.

 

“I'm so sorry, Sam,” she says hoarsely.

 

He lightly kisses the side of her head and whispers into her hair, “It's ok. I'm alright, I promise.”

 

As they leave each other's arms, her hand accidentally brushes against where the bite mark was, making Sam flinch. Wide eyed, she watches as he pulls his collar down and finds he has scarring where she burned the poison from his veins. She reaches with a quivering hand to feel the injury she gave him. With the tips of her fingers, she traces the deep lines in his shoulder and part of his upper chest.

 

Seeing the guilt in her eyes, Sam tries to reassure her, “Jade, I’m-”

 

Overwhelmed with self-condemnation from the past and the present, she rushes out the door before he could finish, almost running into Dean on her way to her room.

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

A few days pass, and Sam is feeling like his old self. No more soreness, no more fatigue, just some scars that won't fade, no matter how many times Jack tries to heal them. As he's looking through the library for books to help Jade, she swiftly walks in, heading towards the exit.

 

Hearing the jingle of her keys, he turns to her and asks with a sullen voice, “You leaving again?”

 

Looking back at him, she nods and sadly tells him, “I can't stay, Sam.”

 

Trying to hide his pain, he clenches his jaw and breaks eye contact for a second.

 

He takes a deep breath, then says with care and understanding in his voice, “I know, and I get it. It's hard to get close to people after losing someone, and you've lost more than most… Just… try not to run from people forever. A friend of mine told me a long time ago, ‘When you shut out pain, you shut out everything else too.’ And at that point, you're not really living anymore. I don't want you to go around the world, just waiting to die. I want you to be happy, even if it's not here.”

 

Clutching her keys in her hands, the only response she can bear to give him is meeting his eyes, nodding slowly and whispering, “I'll try.”

 

At that, she heads up the stairs and out the heavy metal door.


	20. Stay

As Jade heads to her car in the garage, Dean calls out to her from the Impala. He steps out to talk to her, followed by Jack, leaving Cas alone in the passenger seat.

“Hey, you heading out?” Dean asks her, knowing exactly what she's doing, but trying not to pressure her.

Clearing her throat, she eyes Jack as though he's a child that shouldn't really be present for these kinds of conversations, then she replies, “Yeah, it's better if I go home.”

Dean solemnly nods and tells her, “Well, if you ever need anything or change your mind, you know you have a place here.”

“Thank you,” she says, slightly smiling to hide her pain.

“Do you really need to leave again?” asks Jack innocently.

Not wanting to lie or hurt him, she carefully explains with a soft voice, “Yes, I do. I've lived for a very long time, Jack, and I'm sure to live for many centuries after this. Living alone… it keeps me from getting too close to people, from being hurt too much when they eventually die.”

The young nephilim ponders this for a moment, then curiously asks her, “Will leaving now stop you from caring about us, and about when we die?”

With sadness in her eyes, she shakes her head a bit and tells him, “No… but it'll make the pain just a little more bearable.”

He nods in understanding, then returns to his seat in the Impala.

To say goodbye, Dean hugs her, then says, “Thanks for everything. You take care of yourself, ok? I don't wanna hear about you getting into trouble, and then us having to save your ass again.”

Smirking at each other, Jade replies, “I will, and same to you.”

He clasps her shoulder fondly, then gets back into the Impala with Cas and Jack, and slowly drives out of the garage. Jade gets into her car, puts the key in the ignition, but doesn't turn it. She keeps her hand hovering over it for a few minutes, frozen as Jack’s words replay in her mind.

“Will leaving now stop you from caring?”

She sits there fighting with herself, debating if she should stay with people she has come to deeply care for, or leave and bury them somewhere in a back corner of her memories. She shuts her eyes and rushes out of her car, not even taking the time to close the door.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sitting at the end of the library table, Sam is reading through an old large book when he hears the heavy metal door open and Jade’s small feet coming down the stairs.

Not looking up from the text in front of him, he asks as casually as he can manage, “Forget something?”

When Jade says nothing, Sam turns his chair to face her as she's walking towards him. Seeing all of the emotion in her eyes, he starts to ask her what's wrong, but she cuts him off by swiftly cupping his jaw and kissing him hard on the lips. Instinctively, he moves his lips in rhythm with hers, and runs his fingers through her hair.

They break for a second to breathe, just an inch away from each other. As she moves to continue where they left off, he gently holds her by her arms to stop her.

He has her rest her forehead on his, and whispers, “Please tell me you won't run off. I don't think I could handle you just disappearing again.”

Looking deep into his eyes, she declares softly, “I promise I'm here to stay for good." Sweetly smiling at him, she jests, “Guess you're stuck with me now.”

The second she swears this, he pulls her in and captures her lips, bearing all of the feelings that he's been trying to suppress for her sake. As he slips his tongue into her mouth, she slides her hands down his neck, to the front of his flannel shirt, then quickly unbuttons it.

Once his shirt is open all of the way, he shrugs it off of his shoulders, and lets it fall on to the chair. He tugs at the hem of her shirt, running his large hands along her skin as he pulls the fabric up over her head. When he throws her shirt aside, he wraps his arms around her bare waist, and starts nipping at the crook of her neck.

Letting go of her long-held inhibitions, she shuts her eyes and allows herself to be completely taken over by every touch, every kiss, every wonderful feeling he's giving her. As he unhooks her bra and makes a trail of light hickeys along her collarbone, she arches her neck and bites her bottom lip. Tossing her bra behind him, he stands up and starts fiddling with the front of her waistband.

Licking her lips, Jade takes a brief second to admire Sam’s very well maintained physique. When he begins slipping his hands into her tight pants, she peers up at him with lust in her eyes, turns them around, then backs him into the table.

Captivated by her, he watches as she kisses along the scars on his chest, as though she's trying to heal them. Then, she trails down, way down, until she's kneeling in front of him, with his crotch at her eye-level. He gulps as she meets his eyes with hers, and lightly tugs on the front of his belt.

Keeping eye contact the whole time, she unbuckles his belt, then unbuttons and unzips his jeans at a teasingly slow pace. She slides his pants and his boxer briefs down to his ankles. Leaning on the edge of the table, Sam quickly kicks off his shoes and the clothes bunched up at his feet.

Jade rests one hand on his inner thigh, and uses the other to gently grasp his very invigorated cock. She tilts it up, then promptly licks the underside of it, from hilt to tip, making Sam gasp at the sensation. Pointing his dick straight at her face, she kisses the tip, then slowly slides it between her light pink lips. As she pumps him in and out of her mouth, he throws his head back and grabs a fistful of her hair.

Every other push into her mouth, she swirls her tongue around the head of his cock, making him moan each time. The more his orgasm builds, the more he thrusts to work with her movements.

“Jade -unh-” is all he manages to say before his legs tense, his toes curl against the floor, and he releases hard inside her warm mouth.

She swallows every last drop of his cum, then stands to admire the panting giant before her, feathering kisses along his neck. Breathing heavily, he turns them around, sits her on the table’s edge, and swiftly captures her lips with his.

As their tongues explore each other's mouths, he undoes her pants and quickly strips them off of her, along with her shoes and her now damp black lace panties. Eager to show Jade just how much he's wanted her, how much he's needed her, Sam stands between her legs, squeezes her thighs, and hungrily bites her bottom lip.

He lays her back onto the cold wooden table, keeping his lips with hers the whole time. Gradually, he kisses his way down her neck, down her chest, down her slender abdomen, to where she desperately wants him to touch. With his hands on her inner thighs, he spreads her legs wide, and wraps his lips around her clit, causing her to grab the edge of the table and moan in pleasure. While massaging her clit with his tongue, he gropes her breasts with one hand, and starts fingering her with the other.

Jade quickly becomes overwhelmed by all of the different sensations that she's experiencing. It's been so many years, so many decades, since she's let someone in like this, literally and figuratively.

Every time Sam gets her close to her release, he slows down so that she doesn't orgasm yet. He wants to be inside her when she does. He wants her to feel as good as he can possibly make her feel.

When she's dripping wet and he can't wait any longer, he wipes his mouth, stands between her legs, then claims her lips with his once more. Slowly, he starts slipping his throbbing cock into her pussy, making her groan against his lips. The deeper he goes, the more she wants him to move. As he buries his face into her shoulder, she wraps her legs around his waist, and swiftly makes him slide all the way inside of her.

Surprised by her sudden change of pace, Sam bites the crook of her neck in sheer pleasure. As he thrusts into her warm cunt over and over again, she rolls her hips to help him fuck her harder.

Breathlessly, she moans his name as his movements become more sporadic. Wrapping her arms around him, she digs her nails into his back, sinking into the pure bliss she has denied herself for so long.

When she reaches her climax, she arches her back, and cries out, “Sam!”

“Oh fuck!” he groans the second her pussy contracts around his cock, bringing him to his own release deep inside her.

Breathing heavily, they peer into each other's eyes and smile as they gradually come down from their shared high. Not wanting to let her go for the rest of the night, Sam keeps her legs wrapped around his waist as he stands up straight. He holds her close as he slowly carries her to his bedroom, lovingly kissing her the whole way.


	21. No Rest for the Wicked

The next morning, Sam wakes, lying on his back in bed. He fondly smiles down at the beautiful petite woman resting her head on his chest, and gently rubs her back. Holding her against his body, he closes his eyes and just revels in their perfect little moment: her sleeping peacefully in his arms. No nightmares, no tears… no clothes. Just the two of them in each other's arms, finally letting themselves be together.

After a few minutes, Jade starts to wake up. She rubs her eyes, then groggily smiles up at Sam and says, “Good morning.”

He cups her cheek, gives her a sweet peck on the lips, and repeats the greeting back to her. Staring into her eyes and basking in the memory of last night, he realizes something that makes his blissful expression fade to one of concern.

“What’s wrong?” she asks. Noticing his sudden change, she gets hit with the fear of him regretting everything they just did.

Fortunately, Sam speaks before that thought can grow in her mind more than it already has. He swallows hard, and takes his time as though he’s trying to find the right words to say as he talks, “Jade, I’m so sorry. I completely forgot use a condom… Everything was so sudden, and I-”

“Sam,” she interrupts, letting out a sigh of relief that it wasn’t what she thought. She places her hand on his heart, trying to calm his worry with the touch and a soft smile, saying, “It’s alright. I did pretty much jump you last night. Besides, you don’t have to use them with me anyway.”

Finding it difficult to keep looking into his eyes, she focuses her gaze on the rise and fall of his chest and adds, “I’m sorry, I should’ve told you this beforehand, but I can’t get pregnant. Since Rogziel’s grace is pure destruction, I can’t create anything as long as I have it. That’s why I never had another child after Mira. As for STDs, nephilim can't get sick like that.”

“Jade…” is all Sam can think to say.

When her attention returns to his face, she sees his sad puppy dog eyes. In an attempt to lighten his mood, she tells him, “I know it’s been a long time since I’ve had sex, but I don’t think you’re supposed to look at me like that afterwards.”

A bit of a smile forms on his lips as he says, “You’re right, sorry. It’s just I didn’t quite know how to respond.”

“You don’t need to. I accepted it as a part of my life centuries ago… Look,” Jade climbs on top of Sam and straddles his bare lap. “I didn’t think to mention it before because, well…” She gives him a soft kiss then continues with a smirk on her lips, “like you said, last night was pretty sudden.”

Kissing him passionately, she runs her fingers through his hair with one hand, and caresses his toned abs with the other. Grabbing her ass needily, he gets hard as she massages his dick with her warm pussy.

Knock, knock.

Ignoring whoever is at the door, Jade bites Sam's bottom lip then sits up on top of him. Lustfully smirking down at him, she positions his cock right at her entrance and-

Knock, Knock.

“Sammy!” Dean calls through the door, knocking louder this time.

Shutting his eyes and sighing in defeat, Sam whispers to her, “I should probably get that.”

Jade chuckles to herself bashfully, and dismounts from his lap. He gets up, quickly throws on a pair of boxer briefs and sweatpants, then opens the door a crack, just enough to talk to Dean.

Holding a full paper bag, the older Winchester says, “Hey -uh- here.” He hands Sam the bag as he continues, “You take _that_ , and when you get a chance… bleach the library, please.”

Sam looks into the bag and sees his clothes and shoes, along with Jade’s, from the night before.

Remembering the mess they made, Sam blushes and breathes out a laugh of embarrassment, saying, “Yeah, sorry. I'll take care of it.”

“Don't be sorry, Sam; I'm happy for you guys. I just don't wanna touch anything in the library now,” jests Dean.

With a more serious look on his face, he adds, “After you guys get dressed and clean up, we all need to have a talk.”

Concerned by his brother’s words and change in mood, Sam furrows his brow and replies, “Yeah, sure.”

At that, Dean heads down the hall to his room, then Sam gently shuts the door and sets the bag of clothes down on the floor. When he turns around, Jade walks right up to him, teasingly tugs on the front of his waistband and asks, “So… where were we?”

Eagerly, Sam grabs the back of her neck, and crashes his lips onto hers. He quickly slips off his sweats and boxer briefs, then tosses them onto the floor. In one swift motion, he lifts her up, wraps her legs around his waist, and slams her back against the door.

With his body flush with hers, he guides his hard manhood inside her cunt. Overwhelmed by the heat of her, he moans into her neck as he quickly slides deep inside her. No sweet words or extended foreplay, just sheer need for each other.

Thrusting hard into Jade, Sam holds her waist with one hand to keep her steady, and pins her wrists above her head with the other hand. She completely loses herself in the feeling of him filling her up, panting, groaning, and banging her into the door.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After taking a long hot shower, Sam and Jade throw on some clothes, and meet Dean, Cas and Jack in the war room.

When Sam and Jade join them at the table, Dean says, “It's about time! What the hell were you- Nevermind, I don't wanna know. We have a problem.”

With a confused expression on his face, Sam asks, “What?”

“Lucifer found a way back to this world,” says Jack pointedly.

“We _think_ he did. We don't know for sure,” Dean adds.

Trying to hide his terror, Sam clenches his jaw and asks, “What makes you think he's back?”

“I heard his voice in my head yesterday, the same way Jade heard your voice when we were trying to find her,” explains Jack.

Jade eyes Dean, anticipating where this conversation is headed.

Looking back at her, he asks, “If he really made it back, would you be able to kill him? The other day, you said you regretted not killing him; now's your chance.”

“My chance came and went a long time ago. I could do it now, but you wouldn't want me to. The amount of pain I'd get for killing him would almost certainly break me,” she explains with a heavy expression in her eyes.

“Wouldn't you just sleep for a few months or so, then be fine after?” asks Dean.

“If I killed _this_ one, maybe,” she replies, gesturing at Cas, “but you're asking me to kill a mutated archangel, Dean. I don't know if I'd ever wake up from that, or if I'd even pass out from it.”

“What do you mean?” asks Sam, worriedly clutching her hand under the table.

“The main reason I pass out is because my mind needs time to heal. If my mind is completely shattered, there's a chance I'll stay awake and be a threat to everyone,” she clarifies, lightly squeezing Sam’s hand at her last word.

Cas asks, “Wouldn't you’ve had the same problem a long time ago?”

“There was a time when I didn't have this deterrence attached to my powers. I was free to use them as I saw fit with no side effects, but that's not the case anymore. For everyone's sake, I suggest we find another way to kill him before he gets to Jack.”


	22. Scars

Everyday following, all of the bunker’s residents search through the library for some way to kill Lucifer. Late one night, Jade looks concerned at Sam as he fights to stay awake while reading an ancient tome.

She walks around the table to sit by his side, places a loving hand on his shoulder and softly tells him, “Let's go to bed, Sam. We'll work more on this in the morning.”

Trying to focus on the book in front of him, he rubs his bloodshot eyes and replies, “You go ahead. I’m just gonna finish going through this one.”

Jade slides the book away from him, sticks a scrap piece of paper in it to mark his place and closes it.

She takes his hands into hers, has him face her, and tiredly reminds him, “That’s what you said Saturday night, and you still haven't slept yet.”

He shrugs and says casually, “This isn't the first all-nighter I've pulled. I'll be fine.”

“Sam, it's Thursday.” Cradling his cheek, she peers into his green exhausted eyes and says, “Look, I know you really want to find a solution to all of this, but right now, you need to take care of yourself and get some rest.”

Fondly placing his hand over hers, he shuts his eyes and sinks into her touch for a moment. Softly smiling at her, he says, “Ok, let's go get some sleep.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For a couple of hours, Sam sleeps soundly with Jade curled up in his arms. Lying on his side in his sweatpants, he holds her flannel-clad back against his bare chest. After a while, flashes of Hell come into his dreamless sleep. Shortly after, the flashes turn into full reruns of his time in the cage. The searing of his flesh, the peeling of his skin, the seemingly endless pain.

As his mind dives further into his memories, he instinctively holds Jade tightly to his body. His heart rate goes through the roof, and he starts shifting and groaning in his sleep. His movements become so distressed that they wake Jade from her slumber.

She turns around in his arms to face him, and she places her hand on his chest. With sadness in her eyes, she gently places her fingertips on his temple, then tries to redirect his subconscious to something more peaceful. As she does this, Sam jolts awake with his eyes wide, and his breathing heavy.

Rubbing his face, and noticing the concerned expression on her face, he says hoarsely, “Sorry, I woke you up, didn't I?”

“It's ok. I was mostly just sleeping so that you would, anyway.”

Bashfully smiling to himself, he rubs her back and pulls her closer. As the grogginess starts to fade and his thoughts become clearer, he furrows his brow, looks at her and asks, “Jade, did you change my dream?... I went from being in Hell to sitting in class at school.”

Realizing she may have overstepped her bounds, she avoids meeting his gaze and replies, “I thought it might help you sleep… I'm sorry. I should've asked you bef-”

Sam quickly cups her jaw and captures her lips with his. When they break apart for a moment to breathe, she blushes and asks, “What was that for?”

Looking deep into her eyes, he caresses her cheek and says, “I love you.”

Softly smiling at him, she gives him a little peck on the lips and replies, “I love you too.”

At that, he gives her a few more sweet little kisses, pulls her into his chest, and holds her close as they fall back to sleep. Sam hopes Jade’s presence will stave off his nightmares. He hopes, but unfortunately, it's not enough. Knowing Lucifer is back, knowing he will stop at nothing to get his son, Sam is terrified. The memories keep coming back in his dreams, and wake him almost every hour of the night.

Panic sweating and hyperventilating, Sam swiftly sits up in bed and runs his fingers through his hair to calm himself down. Worried, Jade gets up with him and grasps his hand.

He says tiredly, “Sorry, I was afraid this might happen. Kinda why I haven't been sleeping that much lately. I figured the nightmares would come back when they told us about Lucifer.”

Gently squeezing his hand, she meets his eyes and asks, “Is there anything I can do?”

“What you've been doing is more than enough, Jade,” he says, affectionately rubbing the back of her hand. “It's hard to explain, but I don't think there's much that anyone can do to really fix this. Even if we manage to kill him, I'll probably still be terrified of him coming back.”

With his eyes starting to water, he says with a broken voice, “The things he did to me… sometimes I can still feel it.”

Cautiously raising her hand to the side of his face, she asks, “Is it alright if I see your memories?”

“You don't wanna do that,” he says, shaking his head.

Caressing his cheek and lovingly peering into his eyes, she says, “Sam, I know I can never fully understand what happened to you, but at least this way, you won't have to bear it alone.”

Breathing in deep, he shuts his eyes and nods in response. Closing her eyes as well, she presses her forehead to his and rests her hands on his shoulders. After a moment, his memories flow into her mind in waves: all of the pain, the horror, every second of violation he had to endure in Hell.

As she takes it all in, she begins to tremble, and tears stream down both of their faces. To keep them from falling apart, Sam cradles her jaw, and Jade grips his shoulders tightly. The deeper they go into his past, the more they cling to each other.


	23. Plan B

After the long night they had, Sam and Jade decide to stay in bed for most of the morning, slipping in and out of sleep. As he rests with her napping in his arms, he absentmindedly runs his fingers through her hair. When someone knocks on his door, Jade moans awake, groggily gives Sam a peck on the cheek, then turns around to go back to sleep and let him out of bed. He gets up and opens the door with just his sweatpants on.

“Hello, Sam. Can I speak with Jade, please?” says the smiling young man standing in the hall.

“Hey, Jack. Yeah -uh- give us a second,” Sam replies awkwardly, eyeing the woman wearing nothing but his large plaid shirt and a pair of panties.

Sam closes the door, tosses Jade her jeans, saying, “Sorry, he wants to-”

At the sound of flapping wings, Sam jumps and Jack appears standing at the foot of the bed. Jade tugs on the edge of her shirt to hide her private areas from the boy.

“Jack! What the Hell?!” asks Sam, startled by his sudden appearance.

He answers casually, “You said to wait a second, so I did.”

Jade smirks to herself, stifling her laughter at the situation. She stands up next to the bed and slips on her jeans, saying, “So, what'd you need to talk to me about?”

“I read that nephilim can sometimes become stronger than their angelic parent. That means I should be strong enough to kill Lucifer, correct?” asks Jack.

“Theoretically, yes… I thought you didn't wanna fight like me though,” she says curiously.

With a sad look in his eyes, he explains, “I don't want to, but I would rather kill him myself than have you hurt yourself doing it to protect me. You guys are my family, and I will do whatever I can to keep you safe.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Are you sure about this?” Jade asks Jack, standing in the middle of the bunker gym, wearing workout clothes. When Jack nods, she shoots a concerned look at Sam who's sitting by the door.

She turns back to Jack and continues, “Ok, to make sure you're ready, I won't be holding back this time. Lucifer won't, not even against you. And he's brutal. He's not above fighting dirty, so you need to keep your eyes open. Any opportunity you have to attack, you take it. We’ll need to take him down as fast as we can.”

“I understand,” says Jack.

“Alright, then give me everything you've got, kid,” she says, prepared for his attack.

With a focused expression on his face, Jack holds his hand out towards Jade, and sends a powerful wave of energy in her direction. To gauge his strength, she lets it hit her and send her flying into the wall behind her. On impact, her shoulder is dislocated, and her neck is broken. Worried, Jack steps toward her as she stands up. While slowly returning to the center of the room, she pops her shoulder back in its socket, and snaps her neck into its natural position.

“Nice job, but you gotta hit me harder than that if you're gonna kill Lucifer.”

With every attempt to harm each other, Jade and Jack automatically heal their wounds. Every time she attacks, her breathing grows labored, and her movements become strained.

Seeing her push through the pain and struggle to stand, Sam helps her up and tells them, “I think you guys have had enough for today.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Supporting Jade’s weight with his arm around her, Sam walks her to her room. She exhaustedly sits on her bed, and he says, “You should get some rest.”

“Sam, we did that all morning. I'll be fine.”

“You used too much power; you can barely stand,” he says, joining her on the bed.

“If Jack is gonna fight Lucifer -if we're gonna _let_ him fight Lucifer- I need to know he's strong enough. That means pushing him as hard as I can.”

With worry in his eyes, he grasps her hand and asks, “And if it knocks you out for months?”

“Then I did my job,” she says, looking down at their hands. Meeting his eyes, she tells him, “Sam, I'm not sending that kid to kill his father unless I _know_ he can do it. And right now, I'm not sure he can. We just spent all afternoon beating the hell out of each other, and all I have to show for it is a huge migraine and some soreness.”

Sam sighs heavily, cradles her cheek in his warm palm and softly says, “Just promise me you'll be careful, ok?”

She lightly kisses his forehead, and whispers, “I promise.”


	24. A Small Act of Kindness

Jade spends everyday for weeks training Jack in the gym. She pushes him as far as she can until the pain is too much for her to fight through. While they spar, Sam researches about archangels in the library, not because he thinks he'll actually find something, but because he can't bring himself to watch her suffer. Every night, she goes to Sam’s room and collapses onto the bed, into his arms. As soon as she does, he lovingly holds her close to his chest, wishing she didn't have to do this to herself.

During one of their sessions, Jade flings Jack across the room, sending him flying into the barbells. When he climbs out of the debris, he sees she is doubled over on the floor, nearing her limit. The pain becomes almost unbearable as she fights to stay conscious. Barely moving on the ground, her vision grows blurry, her mind unfocused.

With sadness in his eyes, Jack approaches her and lightly cradles her cheek, praying he could help her somehow. At that moment, his eyes glow golden yellow, then a bright light spreads from his hand through the veins in her face and her body. Terrified that he may have made things worse, he backs away from her and sprints out of the room to find Cas. In the hallway, he collides with Dean, almost knocking him down.

“Woah, slow down there, kid. What's wrong?” the hunter asks, seeing the worried look on Jack’s face.

“It’s Jade…”

Immediately, Dean runs down the hall to the library and yells, “Sam!”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Jack returns to the gym with the brothers, Sam’s heart drops at the sight of Jade lying motionless on her side with her veins still glowing. The younger Winchester quickly goes to her, kneels by her side, and brushes her long black hair out of her face. Her whole body is relaxed. If it weren't for the concerning luminescence, one would think she was peacefully sleeping.

The light begins to flow out of her, like strings coming from her back. Those golden strands extend from her shoulder blades, and dance in the air. After a few seconds, the glow fades. Much to Sam’s relief, Jade scrunches up her face, and slowly opens her eyes.

“Sam?” she mumbles, peering up at him through squinted eyelids.

“Yeah, it's me. How're you feeling?”

Realizing she's lying on the floor, now surrounded by the boys, she looks around confused and answers, “I feel fine. What's going on?”

He gently grasps her shoulder with one hand, and her other arm with his other hand, helping her to her feet. As she tries to stand, she stumbles, having to put most of her weight into Sam’s arms to keep from falling.

Meeting her gaze with his signature puppy dog eyes, he supports her so that she stays standing, and says, “We're not sure. Jack just came and told us something was wrong. Are you sure you're ok?”

“I think so… I just lost my balance for a minute there,” she says casually.

As she thinks more on what she can remember about the day, she furrows her brow and gradually lets go of Sam. Feeling familiar sensations in her body, sensations she has not had in ages, she looks herself over, trying to process everything.

“Jade?” says Sam, although it barely registers in her mind.

She's too focused on figuring out what just happened. She takes her right hand and reaches over her left shoulder for a moment, then stares at her palms quizzically. Without saying a word, she gestures to a large punching bag that's leaning against the wall, making it explode. She expects to feel some pain from that, but nothing, not even a slight migraine.

Wide eyed in disbelief, with the corners of her lips curling up slightly, she turns to face the young nephilim. “Jack, how did- what did you do?”

Unsure if she's upset with him or if he did something wrong, he nervously responds like a child in trouble, “I… I wished for you to not suffer anymore. I know you're teaching me to fight, but I didn't want you to keep hurting yourself to-”

She swiftly hugs the young man before he can finish explaining. She squeezes him tightly, with an immense amount of gratitude that she could never fully express in words.

“Thank you,” is all she can think to say.

Knowing he brought her happiness, he softly smiles and returns her warm embrace.

When they part, she pats his shoulder and tells him with tears of joy in her eyes, “I don't know how you did it, but you restored my grace to how it used to be. I don't feel anything when I use it now. Also...” Grinning from ear to ear, she suddenly teleports to stand behind Sam and ecstatically declares, “You gave me my wings back!”

Surprised and thrilled to hear this, the three men watch with smiles on their faces as Jade pops in and out of random parts of the room. Overjoyed to see her this cheerful, Sam lovingly basks in her lighthearted giggle echoing throughout the gym. He becomes so fixated on her, that he doesn't even notice when Jack and Dean leave them to go research how to track down Lucifer. He doesn't, but she does.

When she hears the door shut and senses Sam is the only other presence in the room, she teleports right in front of him and playfully tackles him to the ground. Joyfully laughing together, she straddles his crotch and rests her hands on his chest. He smiles up at her and caresses her cheeks, wishing she could stay like this forever. No pain, no despair, just pure happiness.

She bends down and lightly brushes her lips onto his. The second she does, he grabs her hair and kisses her back hard, slow but full of passion. When they break for air, they both sit up breathing heavily, with her staying in his lap, one leg on each side of his hips. After a minute, he notices they're not in the gym anymore. They're now naked in his bed with his back against the headboard, and her wet entrance pressed firmly on his erection.

He runs his fingers through her hair, and says in a low voice, “Jade, could I see your wings?”

When she looks at him frozen like a deer in headlights, Sam nervously breaks eye contact and tries to take back his question, babbling, “I shouldn't have asked that, I'm sorry. I was just curious and I…”

As he trails off and squirms anxiously, she whispers, “Ok.”

Wide eyed, he looks at her and swallows hard. “What?”

Smiling bashfully, she says, “I said ‘Ok.’”

“You don't have to if you-”

She cuts him off with a light touch to his chest, and assures him, “Sam, it's alright. I want to.”

“You're sure?” he asks, resting his hands on her waist.

She nods, and focuses her gaze on the hand she has on his heart, too shy to look him in the eye as she speaks. “I'm sure. It’s just... I've never been asked that before. I lost my wings a long time ago, and I've spent most of my life without them, so I never really had to think about it until now.”

Feeling his heart pounding in his chest, Sam stays perfectly still as Jade leans in, gives him a sweet kiss and whispers against his lips, “Close your eyes.”

He promptly obeys. As soon as he does, she cradles his jaw with both hands, then lightly presses her thumbs on his eyelids. After a few seconds, she lets go and climbs off of him. He feels the mattress dip and rise, and hears some movement in the sheets.

Then, Jade says softly, “You can look now.”

When he opens his eyes, he becomes speechless from what he sees: Jade’s back bearing magnificent black wings wide enough to touch the walls of the room, yet still not fully spread out. Facing away from him, she sits on her feet, anxiously awaiting his reaction. The longer he says nothing, the brighter she blushes.

Unable to bear the silence, she says with a quivering voice, “Sam?”

Snapping out of his hypnosis, he clears his throat, and moves closer. He kneels behind her, and asks under his breath, “Is it alright if I touch them?”

As the pink in her cheeks spreads to her ears, she shifts in place. “Um… sure,” she replies almost too quietly for Sam to hear, _almost_.

Slowly, he raises his hand, and lightly runs his fingertips along the line where her wings meet her shoulder blades. Inhaling sharply at his touch, she instinctively shuts her eyes and clenches her fists on her thighs. As he gently threads his fingers between her feathers, he sees that the tips of each one look like they were dipped in gold.

So entranced by her beauty, he gradually becomes less gentle in his ministrations. He firmly massages the muscles along the top of her wings, making them shudder in his hands. He brushes her hair aside to have it fall over one shoulder, then plants kisses all along her spine, making her moan and bite her lower lip.

As he nibbles down her back, he has her slowly get on all fours. With her knees spread apart, he shoves his tongue between her moist folds, causing her to groan in pleasure. While grasping her feathers with one hand, Sam uses the other to toy with her clit as he licks as deep inside her as he possibly can.

Already hot and bothered from all the attention he's giving her wings, Jade looks back at him with pure lust in her eyes, and taps his hand to have him meet her gaze.

Impatient and thirsty for more of him, she looks straight into his eyes, saying “Sam, please. I need you.”

At that, he lubes his cock with his spit, and slips into her warm pussy from tip to hilt in an instant, making her throw her head back and yell out his name. Taken over by the feeling of his hard member sliding in and out of her, she bounces back into him, having him thrust deep inside her every time.

Leaning over her, Sam presses his muscular body flush against her wings. To keep from being any louder than she already has been, Jade buries her face into the mattress. He slips his arm under her body, grips her shoulder tight, and fucks her harder. Just as she thinks she can't handle much more, she feels him take his free hand between them, and glide his finger into her anus.

With every buck of his hips, she feels his throbbing erection pump inside her tight velvet walls, and the knuckles of his finger popping in and out of her ass. Overwhelmed by him filling both of her holes, she screams in ecstasy into the mattress, clutches the sheets and quakes under him as she cums. The second he feels her orgasm squeeze his cock, Sam chases his own by gripping her breast and hungrily thrusting into her.

“Jade!” he groans into her ear as he releases deep inside her womb.

So she can roll over and face him, she makes her wings intangible and somewhat transparent. As soon as she is lying on her back, Sam fiercely captures her lips with his, and slides his prick in between her thighs, into her burning hot cunt once more.


	25. Learning from the Past

With the limitation of her power now gone, Jade tells the boys that they should summon Lucifer and have her deal with him herself. No more research, no more waiting, just her burning him from existence. Just in case something goes wrong, Jack is left in the bunker to keep his distance from Lucifer, and the other four -Sam, Dean, Jade and Cas- ride in the Impala to an abandoned warehouse a few miles away.

“I don't think we should do this. I mean, you've never pushed yourself that far before,” Sam says to Jade, concerned as they set up the summoning ritual.

She lights a candle on the floor, grasps his hand and tells him in a comforting voice, “Sam, it'll be alright. I know I'm strong enough to kill him.”

“How are you so sure?”

Looking down at their hands in shame, she nervously explains, “Before Rogziel gave me her grace, Michael ordered her to execute Lucifer. It's why she made herself human. Not long after I became a nephilim, he tried to give me the same order… and I refused.”

She squeezes his hand in regret, and adds with water forming in her eyes, “I'm so sorry I didn't do this back then. If I had, you wouldn't have had to-”

Sam clasps his other hand over hers, looks into her eyes and says softly, “Jade, you didn't know what would happen. The things he's done, they're not your fault, none of it.”

She sadly nods and dries her eyes with the back of her free hand. After a few minutes, they finish setting up the ritual, then Dean and Cas join them in the room.

“Alright, the warding is up. It should keep other angels from interfering,” declares the older Winchester.

“Good,” Jade says, standing at their arrival, slipping her hand out of Sam’s grasp. “Cas, can I speak with you for a moment?”

“Of course,” he replies and walks with her to the door, away from the brothers.

To make sure Sam and Dean don't overhear their conversation, Jade speaks to Cas in Enochian in a low whisper.

_If anything goes wrong, get them out of here._

Furrowing his brow, he asks, _What about you?_

_I'll live. I need to know Sam will be ok if I fail… Please, Castiel._ She peers at him in near desperation.

With a look of understanding, he shifts his gaze to the boys for a second, then back to her and says, _I'll keep them both safe._

_Thank you._

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a few minutes, the two of them return to Sam and Dean’s side. All of them arm themselves with angel blades, with Jade in the frontline. Cas activates the summoning ritual, then steps back to guard the Winchesters. At the sound of wings flapping, Lucifer appears in the middle of the summoning ritual. With a cocky smirk on his face, he winks at Sam, sending chills of terror down the man’s spine.

When Lucifer notices Jade, his eyebrows draw close together in confusion, and he says questioningly, “Rogzi-”

Before he could say anything else, Jade telekinetically throws him into the wall behind him at an inhuman speed. She hears wings once more, and spins around just in time to catch his fist in front of her face. She kicks the side of his knee, causing him to collapse from his own weight. Then, she punches his spine, making him hit the concrete floor so hard that it cracks on impact.

When Jade moves to attack Lucifer again, he quickly rolls, grabs her wrist and throws her through the wall. As he stalks towards her, she teleports directly in front of him, grabs him by the throat and slams him into the ground at full force. Jade straddles his lower abdomen to keep him from getting back up, keeps one hand wrapped around his neck, and firmly placed the other at the center of his chest. She ferociously flashes the golden yellow in her eyes, and starts chanting in Enochian.

As she speaks, the palm of her hand glows, burns through Lucifer’s shirt, and spreads the light to the veins in his chest. He cringes and groans in pain, then grabs her by the arms, swiftly rolls on top of her and punches her in the jaw. Jade pulls her knees up to her chest, in between their bodies, and kicks him off of her, sending him flying backwards. When she gets back on her feet, she spits out a glob of blood onto the floor, and charges at Lucifer.

He grabs her throat with one hand and pins her against the wall. “Been a long time, hasn't it, Roxy?” he taunts, smiling malevolently.

Jade says nothing. She clenches her jaw, firmly grabs his wrist with one hand and his bicep with the other. In one quick motion, she plants both of her feet on his shoulders and pushes off of him, tearing his arm off at the joint.

As she chucks his bloody arm aside, he glares at her with pure rage, and growls, “You know what!” He gestures towards Cas and the Winchesters with the hand he has left, and they immediately fall to their knees, groaning and writhing in pain.

“We used to have so much fun, Roxy. Now look at you, you're so… human,” says Lucifer with a disgusted look on his face.

“I'm not Rogziel!” yells Jade, as she waves her hand at her side, canceling out his power over the boys.

“Oh, you're a lot more like her than you think, sweetheart. She killed for the ones she loved too,” he says, eyeing Sam, “She slaughtered a garrison of angels when they came to execute me. I would've done it myself, but why interrupt such a display of affection?”

“She was a disgrace,” Jade says, maliciously curling her fingers in a claw-like form at her side, making every bone in Lucifer’s body fracture. “If she had done her job, I wouldn't have to!”

As he crumbles in pain on the ground, she stalks towards him. She grabs a fistful of his hair, pulls him up and forces him to his knees. With her free hand splayed against his chest once more, she utters, “I've had enough of your family's war.”

Her eyes and the veins stemming from them begin to glow, and she chants the same Enochian spell she said earlier. When Lucifer struggles against her grip, she has an appendage explode off of his body. One finger at a time, his whole hand, then the rest of his arm. Jade completes her incantation, and the burning light spreads from his chest throughout what is left of his body.

Lucifer screams in agony as he is incinerated from the inside out. When his body falls to the floor, he is nothing more than a pile of charred bones. His true form is obliterated from existence, his rebuilt host is destroyed once more.


	26. No Good Deed

Sam, Dean and Cas get on their feet as they witness Lucifer’s remains crumble onto the floor. Jade rushes over to the boys, and wraps her arms tight around Sam.

She looks up at him and asks, “Are you guys alright?”

Peering lovingly into her eyes, he kisses her forehead and responds, “We’re ok. Are you?”

She smiles, nods her head and lightly squeezes his waist. The four of them exchange hugs, then gather their equipment into a duffel bag.

“Can’t believe he’s finally gone,” says Dean.

Sam scoffs, drapes the now full bag over his shoulder, then replies, “Yeah, me too.”

As all of them exit the abandoned warehouse and start walking to the Impala, a deep rumble of thunder can be heard. The boys don’t pay any attention to it, but Jade stops in the middle of the parking lot and looks over her shoulder. When the thunder gets a bit louder, Castiel turns in the direction of the noise with a furrowed brow. After a moment, he peers at Jade, who meets his concerned gaze with hers.

Before Cas can ask her what’s going on, she turns away, strides over to Sam’s side, and gently tugs on his sleeve to have him face her. As soon as he does, she cups his cheek, stands on her tippy toes and gives him a slow tender kiss.

With a tear trailing down from her eye, she whispers against his lips, “I love you.”

For a second, Sam smiles, but then becomes worried when he sees her pained expression. He brushes her tear away with his thumb, and asks, “Jade, what is it?”

Bowing her head, she steps away from his touch and tells him in a broken voice, “I’m sorry.”

She gestures in front of him, making him teleport into the passenger seat of the Impala, and locking him inside. As soon as he realizes what happened, he starts to panic, and frantically tries to get out of the car, to no avail.

“What the hell are you doing?!” yells Dean, trying to open the car doors as well.

She turns back to the warehouse, and slowly walks toward it without saying a word to the others. As the thunder grows louder, she looks to the pitch black sky with pure heartache. She shuts her eyes, exhales heavily, and holds her arms out at her sides, as though accepting what’s to come.

At that moment, a thick bolt of lightning shoots straight through her from the clouds, causing her to shriek in agony and fall to her knees. When a second bolt strikes Jade, flames ignite in the shape of her invisible wings.

“Jade!” yells Sam as he tries to kick the door of the Impala open.

As her wings burn and electricity courses through her body, she screeches with an almost inhuman voice. Sam, Dean and Cas cover their ears at the horrific sound, and the windows of the warehouse and the car shatter into pieces. When the lightning ceases, Jade collapses onto the ground face down. Her body sizzling from the attack, her back smoking from where her wings were, her clothes singed and torn.

The moment she hits the floor, her power over the Impala fades, allowing Sam to burst out of the passenger side door and run to her side. Overtaken by fear, he kneels next to her and turns her over without thinking.

“Jade! Please be- AH!” Sam hisses as he burns his right hand on the scorching hot wounds on her back.

He takes off his jacket, wraps it around her petite motionless form, then holds her close to his heart as it beats so fast he could explode. He is so fixated on Jade’s well-being that he doesn’t look up when Dean and Cas walk up beside him. He barely responds when they guide him to the Impala with her lying limp in his arms.


	27. Who We Are

Dean sits behind the wheel of the Impala as it speeds down the road heading home. Cas is next to him, and they have a heated conversation amongst themselves, while Sam sits in the back and doesn’t hear a word of it. Why would he? Every ounce of his brain power is focused on the wounded unconscious woman resting her head on his lap.

 

He’s at the very edge of the back seat, giving Jade as much room as possible. He has her curled up on her side so that she can comfortably fit lying down next to him. With a heavy expression in his eyes, he peers down at her, and gingerly brushes her dark hair away from her face.

 

“Cas, what happened back there?” asks Dean, worriedly glancing at his brother in the rear view mirror.

 

“I’m not sure. Hopefully, I’ll have answers for you when we get to the bunker and I can take a look at Jade’s injuries.”

 

“It’s not Lucifer, right? There any way he could’ve survived?”

 

“No, his entire being was completely destroyed. She made it so he no longer exists, not even in the Empty,” Cas explains, sadly looking over his shoulder at Jade.

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

This is the second time that Sam has carried Jade into her room. The second time that he has feared she might not wake up again. He lays her down on the bed, then backs away just enough to let Castiel check on her.

 

The angel leans over the side of the mattress, lightly places his palm on Jade’s forehead, and closes his eyes. As he examines her, he furrows his brow with a mix of concern and confusion. While waiting, Dean stands quietly by the door, leaning his back against the wall and watching over his little brother, hoping whatever news Cas has for them doesn’t break the man’s spirit. After a few moments, Cas slowly opens his eyes, and sullenly removes his hand from Jade’s face.

 

Following his friend’s movements with desperate eyes, Sam asks, “How bad is it?”

 

“Jade’s mind was severely damaged in the attack. It looks similar to when she used too much power before and became comatose for a month.”

 

“So she can pull through like last time?”

 

Cas looks at Dean for a second, uncertain if he should tell the truth or hold back. When he gets a subtle nod in response, he explains, “The damage is… much more extensive than that. The only memories I can find that are intact are those from Rogziel’s grace. I don’t see any from Jade’s life… I’m sorry, Sam.”

 

The younger Winchester shuts his eyes to keep from breaking, then fixes his distraught gaze on Jade. Without saying a word to the others, Sam pulls up a chair facing the side of Jade’s bed, sits down, and slumps forward with his elbows on his knees. He clenches his jaw and takes her motionless hand into his trembling one.

 

Dean moves to stand behind his little brother. He places a comforting hand on the grieving man’s shoulder and says, “We will find a way to fix this, Sammy. We always do.”

 

Sam remains silent, as though even speaking of Jade’s condition will shatter him. To give the taller Winchester a moment alone, Dean taps Cas on the arm, ushers him out of the room, and softly shuts the door behind them. The second Sam hears the door close, he slips out of Jade’s hand, grips his injured hand, then firmly presses his thumb into his burnt palm, praying all of this is an illusion. When nothing fades away, when Jade doesn’t wake, Sam buries his face into the mattress and finally lets everything hit him.

 

The image of lightning tearing through Jade’s body, the smell of her burning flesh, the sound of her screams… Sam grips the back of his hair and wallows in the loss of the woman he completely adores. He was sure she would outlive him.  _ She  _ was sure. For once in his life, he let someone know everything about himself. She walked through the horrors of his Hell and held him every step of the way. He shared more with her than he ever had with even Dean, and now he has no idea how to bring her back -  _ if _ he can bring her back.

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

When Dean guides Cas to the kitchen, they are immediately greeted by Jack wrapping his arms around both of them.

 

“You’re back! Is Lucifer dead then?” asks the nephilim as they leave each other's embrace. 

 

The older men look at each other sullenly, then turn to the boy and explain everything that happened. As they speak, they see Jack’s bright smiling face fade into one of heartbreak and terror.

 

“No… she can’t be...” Jack mutters in shock.

 

As tears begin to stream down his cheeks, his eyes glow golden yellow. Then at that moment, Jade’s eyes flutter open and follow suit with Jack’s. While the light fades from her irises, she slowly turns her head to analyze her surroundings: the dimly lit green room, the old wooden dresser with a large mirror on top, the desk covered with books and papers… the man holding her hand and resting his head on her bed.

 

She sits up to get a better view of the room, and the movement causes Sam to pop his head up and stare wide eyed at her in disbelief. Tilting her head, she stares puzzled at his hand.

 

“Jade?” he breathes out, praying that she’s truly there.

 

She doesn’t respond. She merely slips her hand out of his grasp and gets out of bed, facing away from him. Scared and perplexed, Sam calls her again with a crack in his voice. She doesn’t react to him at all. She steps over to the dresser mirror and confusedly peers at her reflection, at her hands, then down at the rest of her body.

 

“Jade?” he calls one more time.

 

No reply again… Then, it sets in. He shuts his watery, bloodshot eyes as he realizes what must be happening.

 

“Rogziel...” says Sam in a low, defeated tone.

 

She turns to face him across the room and says in a calm voice, “Yes? Who are you?”

 

Fighting every urge he has to breakdown, he rubs his face and stays as composed as he possibly can. “Sam… I- uh…,” is all he can think to say to his lover who has no memory of their time together… no memory of herself. To control his quaking hands, he balls them into fists, and digs his fingernails into his palms hard enough to break skin.

 

A small drop of blood trickles from the inside of his injured hand and falls onto the floor. Rogziel of course notices the state he’s in and approaches him with a compassionate expression on her face. Standing right in front of him, she cups the back of his bleeding hand into her tiny palms and examines his wound.

 

“What happened here? Where am I?” asks Rogziel.

 

“Our-” Sam clenches his jaw and forces himself to change his response, “ _ My _ home. You were attacked, so I brought you here to recover.” He doesn't want to scare her off or cause her to have a mental breakdown by telling her everything right away.

 

Still holding Sam’s hand, she looks down at his burns, then asks, “Is that where this came from? You were trying to help me?”

 

When he says nothing, she gazes up into his eyes and it nearly kills him. He nods in reply to her inquiry and her eyes fill with sadness and regret.

 

“I’m sorry this happened, and that you’ve been hurt from it.” She bows her head, runs her fingertips over his burn and adds, “I’m sorry to say that I cannot heal this for you.”

 

“It’s alright. I know you would if you could,” says Sam, pulling his hand away and tucking it into his pocket.

 

At that, she furrows her brow and looks curiously at his face and asks, “You  _ know _ ?... Have we met before?”

 

Sam quickly squeezes his eyes shut, wishing he’d picked a better choice of words. Before he can think of what to say, the bedroom door opens.

 

As Dean enters the room, he says, “Hey Sammy, we thought we heard-”

 

He freezes the second he sees Jade standing in front of his little brother. Cas and Jack follow shortly after. A look of relief and joy begins to form on Dean’s face. When he starts heading towards her for a hug, Sam makes eye contact with him and shakes his head to let his brother know something isn’t right.

 

The taller man bites the inside of his cheek, then says, “Dean, this is -um- Rogziel.”

 

She turns to the older Winchester and holds out her hand saying, “Pleasure to meet you. Thank you for allowing me to stay and recover here.”

 

Dean shakes her hand and sullenly replies, “No problem.”

 

She begins to smile, but then it fades away when she notices Jack. More importantly, she notices his grace. She lets go of Dean’s hand, and moves past him, towards the nephilim.

 

“Impossible,” whispers Rogziel wide-eyed. “What is going on here?” she asks, turning to the others for answers.

 

The boys look at each other anxiously, then Cas asks her, “What is the last thing you remember before waking up in this room?”

 

She pauses for a moment. Then, as she recalls her past, she gradually walks over to the mirror. “I gave my grace to  _ her _ … I’m not Rogziel, am I?”

 

Unable to hold back any longer, Sam stares straight into the reflection of her eyes, and tells her, “Your name is Jade. You had a daughter named Mira, and you’re the strongest woman I know. You’ve lost everything time and time again, and yet you still keep fighting. You’ve seen the worst of me, and you still-”

 

His words catch in his mouth before he says too much, before he says she loves him when she doesn’t. She can’t possibly love someone she doesn’t even remember anymore.


	28. Finding Heaven

Sitting next to each other on the foot of Jade’s bed, Sam spends hours walking Jade through the parts of her life that she shared with him. During most of that time, he finds himself unable to look her in the eye. He tries at first, but as he speaks, it becomes harder and harder to pour his heart into their story, only to see very little reaction in her face. He sees signs of sadness and pity, but no hint of her remembering any of it. When their tale gets to her being hit by lightning, he grows quiet and loses his will to continue narrating.

 

“I killed Lucifer?” she asks, peering down at her hands.

 

Sam can only nod in confirmation.

 

“And the others?”

 

“Others?” he asks curiously.

 

“The rest of my- the rest of the archangels,” she specifies.

 

“Oh, well… Lucifer killed Gabriel several years ago, then tortured Michael in Hell when we managed to get him back in the cage. Sometime after, Leviathans possessed Cas and killed Raphael. As for Remiel, we’ve never met him, so I can’t-”

 

“Remiel died before I left Heaven… before  _ she  _ left…” she holds the sides of her head in her hands. “Sam, could I have a moment alone, please?”

 

He eyes her for a moment, concerned about her distress, then he says softly, “Of course. I’ll leave my door open down the hall if you need anything.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

Sam pats her shoulder gently, then leaves and walks down to his room.

 

With glowing yellow eyes, she lets her hands fall into her lap in a defeated manner, and says under her breath, “Father, I need to speak with you.”

 

Chuck materializes, standing in front of her with a sad, disapproving look on his face.

 

“Why have I returned?” she asks with tears welling in her eyes.

 

He replies, “You’re better this way. Jade disrespected the grace you gave her. She drew power from me to kill my own son,  _ your brother _ . She made me feel him burn out of existence, molecule by molecule.”

 

“Lucifer  _ killed _ my brother, and  _ tortured  _ another, yet you didn’t smite him then. You didn’t lock him away again; these people had to. Then he escaped again and they had to kill him. Now, you punish this girl for doing the one thing I should have done a long time ago?”

 

“What do you want me to do, Rogziel? Let her continue abusing your power?”

 

“I want you to let me go, Father. It’s time I take responsibility for the destiny I forced on this woman. Destroy my grace. Let her be the human she was supposed to be, not what I made her into.”

 

Hearing their voices echo down the hall, Sam jumps out of bed, rushes down the hall, and freezes, gawking silently in the doorway of Jade’s room.

 

“You want me to kill you? You’re the only Archangel left with some sense of sanity.”

 

“I’m just a ghost stealing time from my vessel. She would never have killed Lucifer if I hadn’t given her my grace. She deserves to have her life back.”

 

“Are you sure?” he asks, with a small crack in his voice.

 

She nods to Chuck and says, “Our time is done, Father. My brothers and I are finished in this life.”

 

She then looks to Sam and tells him, “I am sorry for everything you and Jade have had to endure for my mistakes. However, I am proud to know she has been treating you well, and has protected this world as best she can.”

 

With a benevolent smile, she adds, “Take good care of her, Sam Winchester. I imagine she has lived through more strife than what she has openly shared with you.”

 

She shifts her gaze back to Chuck, takes his left hand in her right and says, “Farewell, Father.” Rogziel calmly closes her eyes, awaiting her end.

 

Through his clenched jaw, he replies sullenly, “Goodbye, Rogziel.”

 

With a tear trickling from his eye, Chuck places his free hand on her heart, and squeezes his eyes shut. At that moment, a blinding white light emits from her entire body, causing Sam to shield his face with his hands and look away. When he sees the light fade, he cautiously lowers his arms and peers into the room once more.

 

Chuck has vanished, and Jade is lying face up on the floor, unconscious but breathing steadily. Sam immediately goes to her and kneels by her side. When he gently cradles her cheek, she begins to stir awake. Furrowing her brow, she slowly opens her eyes.

 

“Sam?” she says questioningly, with a hoarseness in her voice.

 

On the verge of tears, he feels like he is finally able to breathe again. He smiles down at her, basking in the view of her glistening eyes.

 

“Hey, how are you feeling?” he asks, caressing the side of her face as though it’s the most precious thing in the world.

 

“I’m pretty sore, but I think I’m ok,” she replies, while gradually sitting up.

 

As he helps her up, he asks, “What’s the last thing you remember?”

 

“We… uh… we were setting up for the ritual.” After a moment, her eyes grow wide and she grasps his hand, frantically asking, “Is everyone alright? What happened with Lucifer? Did he hurt you?”

 

“Woah, woah. Everyone’s safe, I promise,” he replies, trying to keep her calm, grinning at the fact she’s feeling well enough to worry about others rather than herself.

 

“Good,” she sighs in relief.

 

She moves to stand, so Sam gets up and helps her to her feet. When she firmly tries to pull herself up while holding his hands, she flinches and grunts at the immense pain in her back. It’s so intense that she stumbles forward into Sam’s arms and puts most of her weight on his body for support. She reaches her right hand over her opposite shoulder under her shirt and feels around for injuries.

 

When she finds the burns that formed where her wings used to be, she looks up at him and asks, “What happened, Sam? Why aren’t I healing?”

 

“I’ll explain everything later, but basically you killed Lucifer, and lost your grace.”

 

“Are you saying I’m human?” she asks hesitantly, with a face mixed with happiness and disbelief.

 

Before replying, he slowly and tenderly kisses her lips. Affectionately peering into her eyes, he says, “I’m saying that we will grow old together, and I will love every minute of it.”

 

At that, he gives her a soft peck on her forehead and guides her to the library to share the good news with Cas, Dean and Jack.

 

***~The End~***


End file.
